The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the recruitment of trainee teachers has been carried out in accordance with the prevailing system, and some issues have arisen due to the shortcomings of the existing system that are now being addressed.

The Prime Minister made these remarks in Parliament today (20) while responding to a question raised by the Opposition.
 
The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

“The decisions to recruit the trainee teachers are made by the existing vacancies of teachers due to retirement of current teachers and the differences in subject curriculum in remote areas, thereby carefully calculating the teacher vacancies based on subject requirements and taking the availability of capacity to recruit trainee teachers at the level of National college of education. 

Subsequently, after obtaining the National Diploma in Teaching, appointments to government schools are granted based on the results of the final year examination of the respective colleges of education.

Although recruitments are made at district, provincial, and national levels, if there are no existing vacancies in the relevant area at the time of appointment, the appointees are assigned to other provinces or districts. It has been clearly stated in the special gazette notification related to the recruitment to colleges of education that teachers who are recruited must be willing to serve in any part of the country. Furthermore, if there are no vacancies in the provinces corresponding to the subjects applied for by the teacher trainees, they are assigned to other regions where such vacancies exist, based on the consent of the trainee.

Certain issues have arisen in the process of filling the existing vacancies. Although the recruitment and vacancy identification procedures have been followed, such issues have emerged due to deficiencies in the current system. At present, the Ministry of Education is actively taking the necessary measures to identify and rectify these issues. As a result, the batches of 2020 and 2022 have been recruited for teaching appointments based on their consent.

However, we recommend that the teachers accept the appointments that have already been offered. Subsequently, based on specific procedures or personal preference, they may request transfers. These matters must be considered both from the perspective of the teachers and the students. 

We are aware that some individuals have received appointments from the South to the North. Likewise, there are teachers who have remained in the same location for over eight years. All of these issues have been recognized, and steps are being taken to address and resolve them.”