A meeting between the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Service Association, the Sri Lanka Principals’ Service Association, and the Hon. Governor of the Northern Province, N. Vethanayahan, was held at the Governor’s Secretariat on Monday evening (22.09.2025).
It was emphasized that disciplinary inquiries against teachers and principals should be expedited further. At the same time, the Secretary of the Ministry of Education pointed out that disciplinary inquiries are increasing.
Additionally, Deputy Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe noted that it is legally contradictory for the same trade union representative to serve on both the Zonal Transfer Board and the Appeals Board. A request was also made to promptly prepare a transfer policy for teachers, which would be implemented starting from the 2027 transfers. Although a transfer policy for principals has been prepared, it was noted that it has not been discussed with the relevant trade unions. It was decided to implement it after consultations with the concerned trade unions.
Furthermore, trade union representatives raised concerns about the lack of action against principals who allow teachers to continue signing in at their original schools even after being released by Zonal Education Directors following approved transfers. The trade union representatives urged the Governor to take action against Zonal Education Directors who fail to act against such principals.
It was also noted that there is a surplus of teachers for certain subjects at the provincial level, and no teacher vacancies should exist in any school for those subjects. The trade unions requested that this issue be addressed, and the Governor instructed Zonal Education Directors to resolve this within two weeks.
Discussions were also held regarding a mechanism to bring back teachers who are originally from the Northern Province but have been teaching in other provinces for an extended period.
Additionally, the issue of principals who have been appointed but have not yet assumed their duties was reviewed. It was decided to appoint a committee to investigate this matter and report its findings to the Governor.
The issue of delays in pension payments for retired teachers was also discussed. The Governor instructed that teachers’ files should be reviewed six months prior to their retirement to ensure they receive their pension within one month of retiring.
The meeting was attended by General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Service Association and Hon. Deputy Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe, National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Service Association and Hon. Deputy Minister Pradeep Sundaralingam,; Vice President of the Teachers’ Service Association and Hon. Parliamentaraian Jegatheeswaran, S. Sathyaseelan, Secretary to the Northern Province Governor; M. Patrick Diranjan, Secretary of the Northern Province Ministry of Education, V. Jeyachandran, Northern Province Education Director; and Education Directors from all zones in the Northern Province.
