Union boss reveals how Education Ministry Secretary violated law to please panjandrums

By Rathindra Kuruwita 

The Secretary to the Ministry of Education had sent 3,308 letters to principals of national schools asking them to admit students outside  established protocols, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), Joseph Stalin, said, adding that it had been revealed in a report by the National Audit Office.

Those letters were sent between 01 January 2020 and 31 May 2022, according to the National Audit Office.

“Out of this, 72 percent are nominees of politicians, officials and other privileged people. 2,237 children have been enrolled in schools because of these letters according to the National Audit Office. Out of these letters, 861 requests have come from ministers, 654 from MPs, 190 from ministry secretaries or heads of departments and 160 from the Prime Minister’s Office,” he said.

Stalin said such enrollments placed ordinary parents and their children without the backing of politicians at a distinct disadvantage.