May 25, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s drive to strengthen the education sector gathered momentum this week as more than 160,000 graduates sat a highly anticipated competitive examination aimed at recruiting teachers for national and provincial schools.
The examination, conducted yesterday across 1,048 centres islandwide, drew a significant response from both graduates already employed in the public sector and those seeking entry into government service through the teaching profession.
Officials from the Department of Examinations confirmed that nearly 67,000 applicants were graduates currently attached to the public service, while more than 96,000 applications were submitted by external candidates hoping to secure teaching appointments in Sinhala, Tamil and English medium schools.
The large turnout reflects the growing demand for stable employment opportunities, particularly within the education sector, as well as the urgent need to address teacher shortages reported in several parts of the country.
Special provisions were also introduced for candidates with disabilities, with tailored examination arrangements made for 323 applicants to ensure equal access to the recruitment process.
The examination had initially been scheduled for 2023 but was postponed following a series of legal challenges, including fundamental rights petitions filed before the Supreme Court and proceedings before the Court of Appeal.
With those cases now resolved, authorities proceeded with this year’s examination under an expanded framework allowing both state-sector graduates and private applicants to compete for vacancies.