Amidst the circulation of conflicting information regarding the events that took place during the proceedings of the Northern Provincial Teachers’ Transfer Board and the Appeal Board, the Honorable Governor of the Northern Province, N. Vethanayahan, requested a detailed report from the Northern Provincial Director of Education, Y. Jayachandran, concerning the incidents in both boards. Accordingly, the report submitted by the Director to the Governor is now being released to the media to provide clarification.
The statement reads as follows:
In accordance with the Northern Province Annual Teachers’ Transfer Policy, applications for inter-zonal transfers for the year 2025/2026 were called, and a Transfer Board was constituted. The first meeting of the Board was held on 13.08.2025. The session was attended by A. Theepan Thileesan representing the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union, K. Inthiran representing the Tamil Teachers’ Union, N. Selvarasa representing the Teachers’ Liberation Front, and K. Prakash representing the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union.
At the outset of the discussion, the union representatives requested that before considering the transfers for the year 2025/2026, the Board should first address certain unresolved issues related to the transfers made in 2024/2025.
Accordingly, a special meeting of the Appeals Board was held on 18.08.2025 to review and decide on the transfer appeals for the year 2024/2025.
During the consideration of Mrs. N.N. Rajasekaran’s transfer appeal, a teacher at Sri Parvathi Vidyalayam, Ariyalai, S. Kandeeparasa, representing the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union, requested that her transfer be canceled, citing that her husband is completely blind in one eye and requires her assistance to apply a contact lens to the other eye daily. The Board decided that the request would be considered upon submission of sufficient evidence, and a final decision would be made thereafter. This decision was unanimously approved by the Appeals Board, allowing the Transfer Board sessions to continue with the agreement of S. Kandeeparasa.
Thereafter, the Transfer Board for the year 2025/2026 convened on 08.09.2025, 11.09.2025, 16.09.2025, 17.09.2025, 19.09.2025, and 23.09.2025 to consider transfer applications and make related decisions.
Meanwhile, during the Special Appeals Board meeting held on 17.09.2025, Mrs. N.N. Rajasekaran’s appeal was reviewed. A letter from a private company technician regarding the fitting of her husband’s contact lens was submitted; however, the final decision could not be made due to the absence of confirmation from an ophthalmologist. S. Kandeeparasa of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union attended both this appeals meeting and the Transfer Board session on 23.09.2025.
Subsequently, under my instructions as the Provincial Director of Education, the Additional Provincial Director of Education spoke with the teacher, Mrs. N.N. Rajasekaran, over the phone, and it was agreed that the ophthalmologist’s confirmation letter would be submitted, which was duly done.
S. Kandeeparasa, representing the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union, requested that we—the Provincial Director of Education and the Additional Provincial Director of Education—refrain from submitting this letter to the Appeals Board meeting. We clarified that it would be submitted in accordance with the decision of the Appeals Board.
At the Appeals Board meeting held on 24.09.2025, S. Kandeeparasa, representing the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union, requested the cancellation of the transfer of the teacher in question, noting that the issue concerned her husband, not the teacher herself. To prevent grievances from teachers who had already been transferred to other districts due to service requirements, I, as Chairman of the Appeals Board, proposed transferring him to Kilinochchi North Zonal School, which is easily accessible, to minimize any inconvenience.
Although representatives of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Liberation Front, the Tamil Teachers’ Association, and the Teachers’ Service Association expressed support for this proposal, S. Kandeeparasa of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union refused to accept it and left the meeting, stating that his union would withdraw from the Transfer Committee activities because the teacher’s transfer had not been canceled. The other three union representatives also recorded their views on the matter..
Subsequently, with the support of the three other teachers’ union representatives, it was decided to change the transfer of Mrs. N.N. Rajasekaran from Vavuniya North Zone to Kilinochchi North Zone.
Additionally, although the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union had withdrawn from the transfer process, it was decided to continue the activities of the Teachers’ Transfer Council for the year 2025/2026 with the support of the representatives of the other three unions: the Teachers’ Service Association, the Teachers’ Liberation Front, and the Tamil Teachers’ Union.
Thereafter, on 26.09.2025, 29.09.2025, 01.10.2025, and 02.10.2025, the transfer applications were reviewed without the participation of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union. The transfer lists were prepared based on the replacement lists submitted by the respective Zonal Education Offices. With my approval, the consent of the Transfer Committee members was obtained on 07.10.2025, and the final transfer list was published on the official website.
It is noteworthy that, according to the report submitted to the Governor by the Provincial Director of Education, the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union participated in the Transfer Board activities for 2025/2026 for only seven days. On the first day’s session, A. Theepan Thileesan participated; S. Kandeeparasa attended four sessions; and S. Mathiyazhagan represented the union in two sessions.
