{"id":52722,"date":"2012-09-01T18:39:52","date_gmt":"2012-09-01T18:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=52722"},"modified":"2012-09-06T08:18:14","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T08:18:14","slug":"futa-can-and-must-rise-above-unionism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/futa-can-and-must-rise-above-unionism\/","title":{"rendered":"FUTA Can And Must Rise Above Unionism"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The trade union action launched by the Federation of University Teachers\u2019 Associations (FUTA)<\/a><\/span> has entered its third month.\u00a0 The universities are closed.\u00a0 Negotiations between FUTA and relevant authorities do not indicate any signs of quick resolution.\u00a0 FUTA is now threatening to boycott A\/L paper marking and has won the support of various teacher unions to keep away as well.<\/p>\n

It is heartening that academics have thought fit to embrace the larger issue of education policy, although it is claimed that this was necessary because the salary-hike demand was unreasonable and even indefensible.\u00a0 Indeed, the FUTA thrust is a lot of \u2018gimme, gimme, gimme\u2019 with very little by way of giving on the part of the academic community.\u00a0 The focus now is to get the Government to set aside for education an amount equivalent to 6% of the GDP<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Forgotten in the comparison of Sri Lanka\u2019s allocations with countries in the region and those of similar economic status is the fact that the stand out cases cited are currently spending large chunks of the budget to do what Sri Lanka has done over several decades.\u00a0 Such countries seem to have realized (rather late in the day) that basics must be put in place and therefore invested in.\u00a0 Glossed over, also, is the fact that the GDP denominator is growing;Sri Lanka\u2019s growth rate has averaged 8% over the past 6 years and the education-allocation numerator naturally is not keeping pace.\u00a0 FUTA doesn\u2019t have to worry about where the money would come from. The Government would have to either borrow (compromising the other strident demand by all parties to maintain fiscal discipline) or cut budgets for other sectors, for example health.\u00a0 FUTA can say \u2018cut wastage instead\u2019, but that\u2019s a suggestion that all aggrieved groups can make, and something that would require solid institutional safeguards that yield good transparency and accountability. The question is, can nothing be done before push, pull, sobriety and risk of losing power yield us better governance structures?<\/p>\n

To begin with, even academics themselves have compromised FUTA\u2019s cause in numerous ways, no one will deny that the Government pot doesn\u2019t have the moral right to call the FUTA kettle \u2018black\u2019.\u00a0 Incompetence, lack of vision, corruption, lack of integrity, an aversion to checks and balances etc., are common to both parties.\u00a0 It is in this context that the worth of the 6%-demand needs to be assessed.<\/p>\n

FUTA has not been unreasonable for the demand-sheet includes a time frame for the increase.\u00a0 Where FUTA is lacking and the Government is silent is on the fact that current allocations are not derived from a coherent and forward-thinking policy paradigm.\u00a0 Whether or not \u20186%\u2019 is feasible or even makes sense, it is important to take into account the utter lack of logic in the overall education policy of successive governments.\u00a0 FUTA naturally wants more bucks for salaries, other benefits and research.\u00a0 More crucially, though, there seems to be total silence by both parties and their respective cheering squads about the details pertaining to the overall crisis in education. In other words, what\u2019s being done (and not done) with the 1.9% or 2.9% (the rupee equivalent as proportion of GDP) is not being talked about enough.<\/p>\n

There are gaping holes in the thrust that promises \u2018no one will be left behind\u2019.\u00a0 Increasing dropout rates at the primary level, closing down of schools, lack of professionally qualified teachers etc., indicate that the foundational levels are cracking up.\u00a0 Also, this country sorely needs a comprehensive occupational classification as part of overall development strategy which can inform meaningful resource allocation to the entire education system.\u00a0 We have simply failed in the effort to ensure that graduates, say, have the opportunity to secure meaningful and dignified employment.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0As of now, the mismatch and accumulated incompetency produces thousands of disgruntled graduates few would hire and who are ill-equipped in terms of skill, attitude and confidence to produce high quality performance.\u00a0 They moreover mistakenly believe that the people who paid for their education must also find them jobs and pay their salaries as though it is a constitutionally enshrined right!\u00a0 Getting a bigger slice of the budget-pie without a comprehensive review of the current allocation regime would amount to flushing more good money down the tube.<\/p>\n

FUTA, saddled though it is with salary-fixated, self-serving members, is amply endowed with intellectual resources to see beyond trade union action.\u00a0 The Government must recognize and make use of this political moment to engage in the broader and vital discussion on the comprehensive overhaul of education policy.\u00a0 If either party plays brinkmanship, it would be an opportunity lost and this fact will not be lost on the people who probably will give up on both, to the larger detriment of the country.<\/p>\n

The Nation Editorial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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