Returning from the discussion, Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) general secretary, Joseph Stalin addressed protesters. Stalin said he had asked officials to submit the teachers’ demands ahead of a meeting with the PSSC scheduled for August 11. The CTU leader declared that there was no obstacle to meeting teachers’ demands in this year’s budget. The CTSU, the JVP-affiliated teachers’ union, did not participate in Tuesday’s protest. The low wages and harsh working conditions facing teachers are part of the broader assault on the entire system of free education.