It has been more than ten years since the introduction of Communication and Media Studies as a school subject, but the country’s leading teachers’ union alleges that no any director has been appointed for the subject so far.
The Ceylon Teachers’ Union states that applications for the limited competitive examination for the recruitment of officers to Grade III of the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service have been called through the gazette notification dated 04th June and the vacancies in each subject have been mentioned in the gazette notification.
Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union says that the reason for this is that the post of subject director has not been approved by the Ministry of Education.
According to the Senior Trade Union Leader, in a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Ministry of Education on 30th June 2017, Public Service Commission has informed they have observed that, it is appropriate to obtain a post for the subject of Communication and Media Studies.
The Ceylon Teachers’ Union further alleges that the Ministry of Education has not taken any action in this regard despite the attention of the Public Service Commission.
As the leader of the teachers’ union points out, in the context the subject scope of communication and media studies is covered by the other subject directors.
“Communication and Media Studies started in 2006 for O / L students and in 2008 for A / L students. Students first appeared for the GCE Ordinary Level Examination in 2008 and for the Advanced Level Examination in 2010. It has been more than 10 years since this subject was introduced for A / L and it has become a popular subject among students. ”
According to the Ceylon Teachers Union, nearly 30,000 students are studying this subject and there are about 1000 teachers who teach the subject in the school system.
In this context, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union requests in writing to the Secretary of Education to amend the above Gazette Notification and to call for applications for the posts of Subject Directors in the subject of Communication and Media Studies.