Sri Lanka is currently facing a significant shortage of teachers, with 36,178 vacancies reported across provincial and national schools, Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya informed Parliament today.
Responding to a parliamentary question, Dr. Amarasuriya revealed that 1,501 positions remain vacant in national schools alone. Among provincial schools, the Central Province recorded the highest number of vacancies at 6,318, followed by the Eastern Province with 6,613, and the Western Province with 4,630. Other provinces also face notable shortages, including the Southern (2,513), North Western (2,990), Uva (2,780), North Central (1,568), Sabaragamuwa (3,994), and Northern (3,271) provinces.
The Prime Minister stated that the government began recruiting teachers on July 28, 2024, to fill critical vacancies in Science, Mathematics, Technology, and language subjects at national schools, as well as G.C.E. Advanced Level teaching positions in Sinhala, English, and Tamil mediums.
She further announced that 353 graduate teachers from Grade III (B) 1 of the Sri Lanka Teaching Service will be appointed within the next two months. In addition, requests have been submitted to the Recruitment Review Committee, chaired by the Secretary to the Prime Minister, to expedite the process of filling the remaining vacancies across the Teaching Service.
