• 5,000 teachers have used ‘leave circular’ to travel overseas
• 40,000 vacancies for teachers 
• Maths, Science and English subjects suffer  

Mass migration of qualified teachers by way of a Government-introduced leave scheme has forced the Ministry of Education to seek Cabinet approval to hire new teachers to the public schools system, amidst curtailed Government spending and a State sector-wide recruitment freeze, The Sunday Morning learns.  

Thousands of vacancies remain unfilled in the public school system due to teachers applying for a five-year no-pay leave under a Government circular issued last year, which was aimed at encouraging State employees to travel overseas for work to mitigate the impact of the forex crisis at the time, it is learnt.

The effects of the circular issued last year may negatively impact the education system which is already under strain, experts worry. The concerns come as the impact of the mass migration of medical specialists and staff has begun to play out in the public health system, leaving thousands of patients struggling to receive care and treatment.

When contacted, the Education Ministry yesterday (19) acknowledged that approximately 5,000 teachers had been granted ‘five-year no-pay leave’ during the past nine months.

However, The Sunday Morning reliably learns that the new exodus of teachers, triggered by the availability of the new leave scheme and the ongoing economic crisis, has aggravated the teacher shortages in remote areas.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ministry of Education Secretary Nihal Ranasingha said the ministry could not halt teachers leaving the country.

Due to the applicable circular, the ministry had to approve five-year no-pay leave for teachers who were applying for leave under that category, Ranasingha said.

When asked about the looming teacher shortage in the public school system, he mentioned that steps were being taken by the ministry to recruit new qualified teachers.

Ranasingha said: “We have already submitted a Cabinet paper requesting approval to recruit new teachers to fill the existing vacancies.”

However, when asked whether recruitment would be affected by the new circular issued by the Treasury, which limits new recruitment for the public sector for the next year, the Education Ministry Secretary stressed that the recruitment would only be for existing vacancies. He also emphasised that a special request had been made by the Cabinet for this purpose.

As learnt by The Sunday Morning, currently, there are nearly 40,000 teacher vacancies in the school system. The majority of these vacancies are in the three main subjects: Mathematics, Science, and English.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin mentioned that it had been revealed in a recent meeting held at the Ministry of Education that nearly 5,000 teachers had left for foreign employment opportunities.

Stalin stated: “This was acknowledged by the Minister as well. This is an alarming rate. However, it was the Government that paved the way for teachers to leave the country through the circular issued last year. 

“Now the issue is that some governors are holding back teachers who have already spent millions to obtain visas to go abroad, claiming that there are vacancies in schools. This needs to be considered before deciding to allow the public sector to go abroad. We are not saying that it should be stopped, but what is important is to recruit new teachers to avoid any negative effects.”

Stalin explained that most of the vacancies that had emerged were for the three main subjects: Mathematics, Science, and English. He emphasised that the failures of the Government were reflected in the decisions that had been made, since it could not now restrict teachers from leaving abroad.

On the other hand, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-affiliated Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe stressed that the main reason teachers were leaving the country was due to the low salaries paid to them.

“Teachers receive the lowest salary in the public sector. There are nearly 35,000 vacancies that need to be filled. Most of these vacancies are in remote areas. There is a shortage of teachers for many subjects including English, Mathematics, and Science. The Government can recruit new graduates for schools. There are also management issues in the sector; some schools have a surplus of teachers, while others are struggling to find a single teacher,” Jayasinghe said. 

The shortage of teachers had had a severe impact on the Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, Jayasinghe said. “The shortages are even present in some schools in the Western Province. However, the situation is worse in remote areas, such as Uva and Sabaragamuwa,” he concluded.