The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has said ambiguities in the gazette notification for teacher recruitment have left thousands of school vacancies unfilled, hours before the Prime Minister announced a timetable for new appointments.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the Government first acknowledged 46,000 teacher vacancies, then revised the figure to 36,000. He said it has decided to recruit only 23,000 teachers, and that around 17,000 applicants have been summoned for the first round of interviews.
Stalin said interviews are expected to start in the middle of next month, which means appointments are unlikely before January. He said the vacancies have remained unfilled for more than a year and a half, leaving schools to operate with a severe shortage of teachers.
He also said many teachers have been unable to obtain transfers because replacements have not been appointed. Some have served at the same schools for 12 to 13 years, and he said they will have to stay for another year if recruitment does not proceed.
Stalin criticised the Government for pursuing education reforms without addressing the shortage, and said the irregularities in the gazette notification for the recruitment examinations contributed to the delay. He asked who would take responsibility for the unfilled posts.
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, addressing the National People’s Power (NPP) women’s convention in Badulla on Sunday, said 30,000 teachers will join the teaching service by March next year. She said interviews for 23,000 graduate teachers are scheduled to begin on 20 November, with appointments expected to be made this year.
The Prime Minister said a further 6,000 diploma holders graduating from the Colleges of Education will be recruited by February next year. She said holders of Bachelor of Education (BEd) qualifications will also be recruited, bringing the total to 30,000 by March.
Background
Teacher shortages have been a recurring issue in Sri Lankan schools, particularly in rural and estate-sector schools and in subjects such as mathematics, science and English. Recruitment to the state teaching service is carried out through public notices, examinations and interviews, and appointments are then allocated to schools by the education authorities.
The Colleges of Education train teachers through diploma programmes, and their graduates are normally absorbed into the teaching service after completing the course. Graduate teachers are recruited through a separate process that begins with a gazette notification setting out the qualifications and procedure.
The Government has also been working on changes to the education system. The CTU, a trade union representing teachers, has often raised staffing and transfer problems in public statements.
What it means
For parents and students, the Prime Minister’s timetable points to graduate interviews from 20 November, diploma holders joining by February and the full intake by March. Under the CTU’s reading, schools with vacancies could go without additional teachers until the new year.
For serving teachers waiting for transfers, the timing of replacements will decide when moves can be approved, according to the CTU. The two accounts differ on how quickly the posts will be filled, and the interview dates will be the first test of the timetable.
