Teachers in short supply: More than 10,000 schools affected by delayed recruitments
View(s):The Government’s inordinate delay in recruiting teachers to schools has resulted in a shortage of 20,000 teachers more than 10, 000 schools across the country.
The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) said the shortage is causing untold hardship to teachers who are due for transfer but cannot leave their stations as no replacements were sent by the Education Ministry.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said many of these teachers had served more than five years in their respective schools. Some of them were working in schools in remote areas and areas far away from their homes, and they were waiting to serve in schools in their home towns or in areas close to their homes, Mr. Stalin said.
The Government had not appointed any teachers this year. Although 4000 students passed out of the National College of Education this year, they are yet to receive their appointment letters.
In 2019, recruitments were made at provincial levels with the North Central Province recruiting 986 teachers and the Western Province recruiting 1600 teachers out of 5000 candidates who qualified for the posts.
The last time the Government recruited teachers in large numbers was between1989 -1990 when around 70,000 teachers were recruited.
Many of the teachers recruited during this period had served for more than 30 years and had retired or were on the threshold of retirement. Therefore, the CTU asked the Government to take immediate action to fill in the vacancies that exists in schools. - CC