The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, responses to the Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan’s questions under Standing Order 27(2) are as follows:

¶ 02 1. Teacher requirements are calculated subject-wise, considering expected retirements, current vacancies, and the need to ensure subject diversity in difficult areas. NCoE intakes are aligned to these requirements and to the one-time training capacity.

¶ 03 2 and 3. Upon obtaining the National Diploma in Teaching, appointments to Government schools are made based on the competitive results of the final NCoE year. Regardless of whether their initial intake basis was district, provincial, or national, if there are no vacancies in the relevant district or province at placement, candidates are directed to other districts or provinces. The requirement to serve anywhere in the country is stipulated in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2192 of 2020.09.04, clause 9-16, governing recruitment to NCoEs. Based on the vacancy lists submitted by Provincial Education Authorities as at 2024.10.31, trainees in subjects with no provincial/national vacancies were placed in other provinces where vacancies existed, after obtaining their preferences.

¶ 04 4. We are aware of the issues raised. While we have followed existing processes to fill vacancies, we recognize concerns about recruitment procedures, vacancy identification, and placement. We are reviewing recruitment, vacancy-mapping, and posting procedures to identify necessary corrections.