The Ceylon Teachers' Union (CTU) has warned that a serious teacher shortage has emerged within the school system, citing irregularities in the gazette notification issued for teacher recruitment.

CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the recruitment process had now developed into a crisis due to shortcomings in the gazette notification published to fill teacher vacancies.

He noted that the Prime Minister had previously stated that there were 36,000 teacher vacancies in the school system. However, only around 23,000 applicants had been summoned for interviews, while approximately 17,000 had been called for the initial round of interviews, he said.

Stalin also pointed out that a large number of teachers were unable to obtain transfers within the education system due to the absence of replacements. As a result, some teachers had been serving at the same school for 12 to 13 years without being able to secure a transfer, he added.

Commenting further on the matter, Ceylon Teachers’ Union Secretary Joseph Stalin said:

“There is currently a severe teacher shortage in the school system. At the beginning of the year, we heard the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education state that there were 46,000 teacher vacancies in the school system. Later, that figure was revised down to 36,000.

“These vacancies have remained unfilled for more than a year and a half. The school system has continued to operate with a severe teacher shortage throughout this period.

“The Government is talking about introducing education reforms while these vacancies remain unfilled. From the outset, the current Government stated that it would recruit 23,000 teachers to fill the vacancies. This means that it had decided to recruit fewer teachers than the number of existing vacancies.

“Although the recruitment gazette has now been published, only around 17,000 applicants have been summoned for the initial round of interviews. When, then, will these teacher vacancies be filled?

“The current plan is to commence interviews by the middle of next month. This means that appointments will be made no earlier than January. There are more than 36,000 teacher vacancies, yet the Government decided to recruit only 23,000 teachers, and only 17,000 have been called for interviews. Who will take responsibility for these vacancies?

“There are also a large number of teachers in the education system who have been unable to obtain transfers. Some have been working at the same school for 12 to 13 years because no replacements have been appointed. Since replacements are not being recruited, these teachers will have to remain at their current schools for another year.

“This is a serious crisis. However, the situation is even more critical for students who are left without teachers. Who will provide solutions to these issues?

“We primarily believe that the lack of proper procedures in the gazette notification issued for the recruitment examinations has contributed to this crisis. The ambiguities in the notification itself have led to the recruitment process becoming a major issue.”