FUTA's unrelenting demands endangers students' lives

By Manjula FERNANDO

Examinations Commissioner N.J. Pushpakumara	Principal of Ananda College L. M. D. Dharmasena	FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Dewasiri

As the university teachers' trade union action appeared far from reaching an amicable settlement, with FUTA's unrelenting demands, nearly 270,000 GCE A/L students who sat for the examination last August and their parents look on in dismay and growing uncertainty at what was unfolding.

Many who spoke to the Sunday Observer, expressed hopelessness and frustration as they were unable to make up their minds or draw up any plans whatsoever on their immediate future, since the boycotting of paper-marking by lecturers seems to continue. It was expressed that this strike action is second to only the doctors who take hostage the aged and ailing, to win their demands. Until the decision to keep away from A/L paper marking, the ordinary citizens of the country did not dislike university lecturers or the trade union action that they had resorted to.

Chariya Pathirana, a mother whose 18-year-old son who sat for the examination for the first time this year said her son seems to be living in 'solitary confinement' where he has shut out everyone else around him. "I find it difficult to communicate with him and my hopes to get him to sit for the examination a second time is out of the question now.

It is so sad since he is a bright student," she said. Hers is the story of many parents. Frustrated many students expressed that they would never think of sitting the examination again to qualify for university but instead would look for employment or think of obtaining professional training in another field.

In this backdrop the Sunday Observer spoke to a cross section of people, representing the strikers, students and examinations officials to weigh the situation against the demands by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA).

Principal of Ananda College L. M. D. Dharmasena a former examinations official and whose daughter, too, sat for the GCE A/L Examination this year was the first to speak, "As teachers we are waiting for the results. Children and parents are impatient to know the results.

What will happen if the papers get destroyed by rain or get eaten by moths. Storing such a huge stock of answer scripts for a lengthy period is no easy task. There are so many dangers, the handwriting could get smudged and various issues could crop up. The whole lives of these children who sat the GCE AL examination in these papers!

During our days of university, our lecturers were more compassionate. It is important that they get their issues resolved but that should be in a professional manner, via negotiations. I think the A/L paper-marking should never have got 'caught up' in this mess.

University lecturers are the country's educated elite of the educated. As teachers, we are here to guide our children on the right path. I can never condone this trade union action that holds the future of our innocent children to ransom. It is a different thing if this trade union action is by workers of a less educated lot. I speak on behalf of the 6,000 children in my school.

I have seen how the Advanced Level students toil to prepare for the examination. It is unfortunate. My daughter is among those who sat for the A/L examination this year.

The GCE A/L examination is a tough game. I know how much students toil to get good grades, without enough sleep and proper meals. When the children have overcome all obstacles for a long and hard 24 months, isn't it unfair to block them at the final lap. They have been made despondent, frustrated and hopeless. I have great respect for the university lecturers, they are intellectuals. I appeal to them not to delay paper-marking anymore and punish these innocent students."

Examinations Commissioner N.J. Pushpakumara said,

“To our call for a meeting, some university lecturers responded and a meeting was held last week. There we decided to begin paper marking next month. However, with them we can only evaluate certain selected subjects. Unless all 400 dons in volved in paper marking report back to work we are unable to complete the job.

The results of the GCE A/L examination 2011 was released on December 25. Usually paper-marking starts simultaneously while the examination is still in progress, to ensure results are released in the shortest time span as possible and to cover the marking process within the August holidays itself so that schools used as marking centres will have less disruption to academic activities. This year we are compelled to deviate from this 'schedule' due to the strike action by the university teachers.

Altogether a staff of 14,000 university and school teachers are deployed in the evaluation of A/L papers. Of this 400 are university dons. The lecturers head the evaluation panels as Chief Controllers and the marking is done by school teachers. I do not want to compromise the high standard maintained by the Examinations Department and the recognition our evaluation process has earned internationally, by inviting others to fill the void created by university academics. That should never be the case.

If university teachers agree to do paper-marking starting from October, we are prepared to expedite the process, work double shift and release results without much delay. But if we cannot do it by October, there will be a calamity as the Department has to gear up for the GCE Ordinary Level examination in December.

The examination is scheduled to be held from December 11 - 20. We receive over 8,000 applications from students who seek to travel overseas for further study and employment in December.

This year these children will be terribly inconvenienced.

Asked, where the solution lies to end the trade union action, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Dewasiri said, we had a series of discussions with Minister Basil Rajapaksa and came to a mutual understanding. What is needed immediately is a discussion with Dr. P.B. Jayasundare. This is due for the last three weeks or so. We met him once where he made some constructive plans for the revision of our salary structure.

He promised that he will come up with a concrete set of proposals, within 2-3 days. We agreed that we will take that to our membership. We have invited everyone to join irrespective of political affiliations, they have responded to our call. This could have been resolved earlier.

Q: Don't you think that you have let down 270,000 A/L students who sat for the examination in August this year?

A: No. We don't think that we are letting down any students. When there is trade union action, it disrupts the ordinary state of affairs. Trade union action is a constitutionally protected right. We have tried our best to solve the differences without resorting to trade union action. We are convinced our demands are legitimate demands.

The authorities are asking us to start the A/L paper-marking as a gesture of goodwill, but I think they must show their genuine interest to resolve our issues by way of organising the promised discussion with the Treasury Secretary.

***************

FUTA should have maintained urgent services - SB

Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake said the university lecturers are acting in a highly irresponsible manner, risking the future of students, including Advanced Level students who have just sat for the examination.

“When doctors go on strike, they continue to provide emergency services such as accident service, ICU and Cardiac Units. Similarly when electricity engineers and workers strike, they would sill man strategic locations and distribution points. In contrast, university lecturers on strike have completely withdrawn without even attending to emergency duties as marking of Advanced Level answer scripts,” he said.

“This is similar to a doctor not putting the finishing touches after surgery. The lecturers prepared the AL question papers and the students have answered them. Now lecturers refuse to mark answer scripts, it is as if a doctor refuses to close up and putt stitches after a surgery. It is highly irresponsible and unreasonable act.

“The FUTA should have maintained urgent services such as marking of AL answer scripts even though they are on strike.

They should not play with the lives of youth, especially AL students who are awaiting results after 12 years of hard work at school,” Minister Dissanayake said.

***************