Stress-free education during the fuel crisis in Batticaloa: Perspectives of teachers

Abstract

Education is the only key to uplift the society in order to develop our country; the crucial element of education is the teacher. Thus, the teachers should be happy and healthy mentally and physically. Also, they are the people who should be preserved for the next generation. In that respect, the stress-free education is always depended on the teachers who work with the children. Hence, this present study investigates the factors for stress-free education during the fuel crisis in Batticaloa district, based on the perspectives of the teachers. In order to carry out the objectives of the current research, qualitative approach was employed. The primary data were collected by using a semi-structure interview and a questionnaire. For the purpose of this study, 75 teachers were selected from five different educational zones in Batticaloa district, who work both in rural and urban areas. Also, the snowball sampling method was used for choosing samples. The results revealed some factors from the view of the teachers, they are: increasing the amount of difficult area allowance according to the distance between their residence and the school because the teachers are badly effected economically, providing 30 minutes grace period especially for those who are more than 10 km away from the school, giving the first priority to the teachers for getting cooking gas, providing a new allowance as fuel allowance for the teachers who work in the urban area schools or granting 50% offer for bus tickets, avoiding finger print attendance temporarily until the crisis situation will be cleared, providing a bus service only for the teachers like Sisuseriya and allocating a particular time for the teachers to get fuel. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government to provide such facilities for our teachers in order to obtain the stress-free education.