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160 national schools sans principals 

10 Feb 2022

  • Teachers’ Union blames Edu Admin Service recruitment exam not being held in five years
By Buddhika Samaraweera Claiming that nearly 160 national schools islandwide do not have principals at present, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) stated that the main reason for this is that the examination for the recruitment of officers to the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service (SLEAS) has not been held in five years. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (9), CTU President Priyantha Fernando said that although the first grade officers of the SLEAS should be appointed to the post of principals of national schools, at present, there are nearly 160 vacancies for the principals of national schools throughout the country.  “There are nearly 400 national schools in total, of which more than 160 have no principals. In some schools, teachers serve as acting principals. The main reason for this situation is the non-recruitment of officers to the SLEAS for five years. The examination to recruit such officers has not been held since 2016,” he added. As a temporary solution, Fernando said that the relevant gazette notification should be amended to resolve the problematic situation regarding the posts of principals in national schools.  “According to the gazette notification regarding the recruitment of principals to these national schools, only the first grade officers of the SLEAS can apply for the post of principal of a national school. However, there is a huge shortage of officers in that grade. Therefore, if the relevant gazette notification is amended in such a way that the second grade officers can also apply for it, this situation can be resolved temporarily,” he elaborated. Claiming that there are plans to rename another 800 schools as national schools in the future, Fernando said that if the issue is not resolved by then, those schools too would not have principals. Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given directives to look into any undue influence exerted by candidates for the national school principal posts, the President’s Media Division said on 8 February. Accordingly, Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera has been instructed to probe such undue influence exerted on the Interview Board or the Education Service Committee of the Public Services Commission during and after the relevant interviews.


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