All the teachers of the Nawagattegama Navodya School, where a female teacher was allegedly punished by a Provincial Councilor, have applied for sick leave today and tomorrow (05), the Ceylon Teachers’ Union said.

CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin stated that they have called in sick in protest to both Vice Principals of the school not assisting in the inquiry into the incident, which occurred on June 14 when North Western Provincial Councilor, Ananda Sarath Kumara had forced a teacher to kneel.

He stated that while one Vice Principal had testified at court regarding the incident and later retracted his statement amid external pressure the other Vice Principal had completely stayed away from the case.

Therefore the remainder of the teachers at the school say they can no longer continue to work together with the vice principals as they have breached their trust and request that the vice principals be transferred to a different school.

Relevant authorities including the Provincial Education Director have been informed of this trade union action while the Puttalam Additional Education Director has already visited the school in Nawagattegama, he told Ada Derana.

Ananda Sarath Kumara was granted bail on June 27 by the Puttalam Magistrate’s Court.