The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, under Standing Order 27(2), I raise the following by Private Notice.

¶ 02 A professional community that contributed significantly to bringing the present government to power—university academics, teachers, education officers, and all stakeholders directly or indirectly connected to the education sector—has been waiting. After assuming power, the government appears to be delaying actions to resolve professional issues in education. Trade unions are compelled to remind the government to provide prompt solutions. I therefore raise these questions to draw urgent attention:

¶ 03 1. Can a detailed report on vacancies and staffing (academics/lecturers) in state universities be tabled? Will prompt recruitments be made? What remedial measures are proposed to avert collapse due to non-recruitment, including addressing the exodus of academics?

¶ 04 2. Will the forthcoming Budget increase salaries/allowances of university academics, remove anomalies, and upgrade facilities? If not, does the government not see that as an obstacle to attracting high-quality academics?

¶ 05 3. Reports indicate a programme to close schools with low student numbers. If so, what are the criteria? How many have been closed or identified? How will you ensure no child is disadvantaged? We heard promises of a school every three kilometres by the current President during the campaign, yet now we hear of closures. Please table full data.

¶ 06 4. Can you provide details of current education reforms, and resolutions given regarding the History and Aesthetics subject issues? I believe all agree History should be a core subject; what is the government’s position?

¶ 07 5. Will the balance two-thirds of the teachers’ salary increase be granted in Budget 2026 as promised? Will the difficult area allowance be raised? Will interest on Guru Setha loans be reduced?

¶ 08 6. As per Gazette of 30.10.2023 and Cabinet approval, more than 500 candidates who passed the Central Province Teacher Exam and practicals have not yet been recruited, despite 6,334 vacancies. Three rounds have been conducted: 378 in one, 1,132 in two; about 500 remain. When will they be recruited? On what date?

¶ 09 7. What steps are being taken to resolve issues surrounding recruitment of Development Officers into the teacher service? Since pre-COVID and during the pandemic, 16,600 Development Officer–teachers delivered education. There is a settlement decision: to recruit them as trainees to Grade II(2) with a three-year period to complete the PG Diploma. Why is this not implemented? We expect answers.

¶ 10 Thank you.