Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa says that an additional Rs. 30,000 million will be allocated to rectify the salary anomalies of teachers and principals. 

“Given that the government through the Cabinet decision dated 30 August 2021 has agreed as a matter of policy to eliminate the Teacher–Principal salary anomalies, thereby ending the trade union activities, and therefore, for the expeditious implementation of such policy, I propose an additional Rs. 30,000 million be included for salary payments.” 

This is in addition to the current allocation of over Rs. 109,000 million on teachers’ and principals’ salaries, he said, delivering the 2022 Budget Speech today.

Meanwhile he also said that with the objective of making rural schools attractive, the programme to establish “1,000 National Schools” is implemented as a priority development project of the government by establishing national schools in 123 Divisional Secretary’s Divisions where there is no National School and uplifting the facilities of secondary schools. 

Thereby, class rooms, desks, chairs, toilets, drinking water, electricity, renovation of teachers’ quarters, provision of school instruments, laboratory building and required equipment, aesthetic units and required facilities will be provided and reforms will be introduced to maintain technical subject stream, he said. 

The Finance Minister also said that Rs. 2,200 million has been allocated through the Appropriation Bill to establish 1,000 National Schools and it is expected to complete the programme by implementing expeditiously within the next three years. 

In order to accelerate the programme and for other developments in education sector, the minister proposed to include an allocation of Rs. 5,300 million as a budget proposal in addition to the already made allocation.