The General Secretary of the Lanka Teachers’ Union, Joseph Stalin, has called on the Ministry of Education to take strict action against teachers who continue to inconvenience parents by sending school homework via WhatsApp in the evenings and at night.
He stated that parents had informed him about an incident at a school near Colombo, where a large volume of school assignments was sent to students via WhatsApp. Reports have also surfaced of students facing significant difficulties when required to leave their homes at night to obtain photocopies of assignments sent through the messaging platform.
Stalin emphasised that exercises and assignments should be explained clearly to students during classroom teaching sessions, rather than being sent via WhatsApp in a manner that disrupts parents and other family members. He added that the Ministry of Education had already issued a circular underscoring this matter.
He further urged parents to lodge complaints with the Ministry of Education against teachers who send homework via WhatsApp at inappropriate hours. If a child’s teacher is sending assignments directly to parents’ mobile phones through WhatsApp, the matter should be formally reported, he said.
By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakoon
