School principals and teachers are set to resort to a sick note campaign tomorrow in protest of the escalating cost of fuel, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Teachers Union (SLTU) Joseph Stalin said.
Stalin said that principals and teachers are unable to bear the sky rocketing price of fuel and furthermore they have to spend long hours in queues to obtain fuel. He said that student attendance has dropped by fifty percent. He reiterated that repeated requests made to the Secretary, Ministry of Education to permit teachers and students to report to the school nearest to their place of residence until the present crisis is resolved have been turned down.
Under these circumstances the 263,000 strong principal and teacher unions have no other recourse except to resort to trade union action. The sick note campaign tomorrow is a warning to the Government and further action is inevitable if the crisis is not addressed. Stalin also said that principals and teachers unions will join the general strike which is to take place on Thursday (28).