Academics opposing strike tell FUTA Dons:

‘Don’t be political pawns’

Samanmalie PRIYASHANTHI

‘University Dons who are the country’s intellectuals of the highest calibre should not be pawns in the hands of political parties, says a group of university lecturers opposing to the current university strike.

This group says that although they are opposed to the strike they are unable to report to work due to the lack of a conducive environment in the universities at present.

This group also alleged that certain Dons destroying the educational rights of university students by resorting to strike action were amassing wealth by working as visiting lecturers in private educational institutions.

Realising this many lecturers who resorted to strike action are now teaming up to oppose the strike. Ruhuna University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Gamini Senanayake commenting on the university strike said it is unbecoming for lecturers to hold the educational life of students to ransom to win the demands.

Any association trying to win demands should first think of the people who would fall into difficulties from such action. Doctors and lecturers specially should think twice of the innocent people who may suffer owing to their strike action. Although university Dons had the right to industrial action the present strike launched by them was morally wrong, he said.

Colombo University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. K. Hirimburegama said our university Dons are highly knowledgeable and almost 99 percent of them had an international standard knowledge about the subject they taught. However she did not know why university lecturers needed trade unions. “I personally feel that university teachers had been misled to resort to this action.

‘If university Dons needed a policy change or enhanced salary there should be a way to attain such objective rather than resorting to strikes. The current strike is therefore unfair and unjust from the student’s angle.

‘It was abundantly clear that the FUTA had no intention to settle this issue as it had turned down all proposed solutions during discussions with authorities. As such the problem had dragged on for two months without a solution.