Nearly 50 per cent of the country’s schools are functioning without permanent principals. Many of them are functioning under acting principals, while some are without even a temporarily appointed principal.
However, the problem will be solved with the appointment of 4,000 new principals by the end of October, said Mr. N. Bandara, secretary to the Ministry of Education.
More than 3,500 out of 9,727 schools are currently functioning under acting principals, according to Ceylon Teacher Services Union secretary, Mahinda Jayasinghe. Of these, 385 schools are in the Western Province. As many as 184 schools have neither a principal nor an acting principal.
Ceylon Teachers’ Union secretary Joseph Stalin blames the ministry for the problem, adding that most of the acting principals were political appointees.
“The problem arose because the ministry did not act according to the rules governing appointments to the Principals’ Service,” Mr. Stalin said. “The acting principals of schools are not even qualified, nor are they senior teachers of the school. They are mere political appointees.”
The authorities have not recruited any school principals since vacancies were gazetted in 2005.
“The government held the exam for the 15,000 applicants for Grade 2.2 of the principals’ service, but did not publish a cut-off mark. This resulted in some of the teachers going for courts action, and a cut-off mark was given in the ruling,” he said.
According to Mr. Stalin, in 2005 a total of 1,917 vacancies were gazetted for Grade 2.2 of the principal service, and more than 2,100 vacancies gazetted for Grade 3. However, up to now none of the vacancies have been filled. Mr. Stalin claims that the results of the Grade 3 examination, held in 2006, have still not been published.
“What might happen now is that all the people who have got temporary posts will be made permanent, and then we will have unqualified individuals in the profession,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bandara of the Education Ministry told the Sunday Times that those who were acting as principals would be returning to their normal duties, and that no one who has been acting as principal would be made permanent based solely on the fact that he or she was an acting principal.
“Interviews for the appointments have been going on, and by October principals will be appointed,” Mr. Bandara said. “Interviews for one category have already been completed. You have to remember that it is after 10 years that the procedure is taking place.” |
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