Sri Lanka’s perennial problem of teacher shortages is coming to a head with a prevailing shortage of 40,000 teachers islandwide, which has left stakeholders warning of dire consequences for the education sector.
UNESCO’s 2024 ‘Global Report on Teachers’ notes that a global teacher shortage is affecting access to and the relevance of education, leading to overcrowded classrooms, diminished teaching quality, and limited learning opportunities, especially in underserved communities.
Terming this an urgent global challenge, it identifies teacher shortages as a complex policy issue, given that many factors are linked to the status of the profession. Moreover, the report notes that the appeal of the teaching profession has declined globally, with education systems struggling to attract and retain teachers.
This situation is not new for Sri Lanka, with unattractive salaries, hard working conditions, and heavy workloads discouraging many candidates from joining or staying in the profession.
Persisting shortages
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) President S. Priyantha Fernando outlined the shortages: “There is a shortage of 40,000 teachers. This situation is most serious in the North Central, Eastern, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces as well as the estate schools in the Central Province.”
Accordingly, there is a shortage of 3,698 teachers in the Eastern Province, 3,860 in the North Central Province, 3,200 in the Uva Province, and 3,800 in the Sabaragamuwa Province, with further shortages of around 2,900 in the Northern Province, 4,500 in the North Western Province, 2,900 in the Southern Province, 4,700 in the Western Province, and 4,800 in the Central Province. In addition, there is a shortage of over 3,000 teachers in national schools, amounting to a total of around 40,000 islandwide.
Fernando noted that the most impacted areas included educational zones in the Eastern Province such as Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, and Kantale, as well as in the North Central Province such as Kebithigollewa and Dimbulagala, with the latter two having only 50% of the requirement of teachers.
For instance, Dimbulagala, which requires around 1,700 teachers, barely has 900, while Kebithigollewa, which requires 1,900, only has around 1,000. The Trincomalee North educational zone lacks one-fourth of the required number of teachers.
“The Government, instead of moving towards a programme to train or recruit teachers as a solution, is allowing the problem of shortages in these small schools to worsen, leading to the schools closing down naturally. Accordingly, there is a threat of around 2,000 schools closing down in future due to a lack of students and teachers,” Fernando said.
He pointed out that the teacher shortage was prominent in certain sections such as the primary sector, and for science, maths, and technology subjects. “From these, primary sector teachers comprise one-third of the shortage. The primary sector especially needs trained teachers; they cannot simply appoint any teacher or graduate. There needs to be a long-term programme by the ministry. However, there has been no regular recruitment to the teacher training colleges as of recently, meaning that although around 4,000 graduates are meant to be created annually, this has not taken place.”
Fernando further detailed various secondary issues created by the situation: “The science, maths, and the newly-established technology sectors are breaking down, while primary education is in a state of disorder, since trained teachers are essential for the latter.
“Another issue is that a significant number of teachers in rural schools are awaiting transfers. For instance, teachers in the Eastern and North Central Provinces often come from outside the provinces and annually, around 500-600 such teachers await transfers away from these areas. However, for around three years, these teachers have been unable to receive transfers.”
Causes of teacher shortage
While the loss of novice teachers strains education systems, teachers retiring, which is one of the main reasons for attrition, also adds pressure.
Fernando noted that the mass retirements of the existing cadre was having a significant impact on the prevailing shortage: “Between 2020 to 2025, around 89,000 trainee teachers recruited during 1989, ’90, and ’91 will be reaching retirement age. Accordingly, if no clear solution is formulated for the teacher shortage by 2025, a shortage of around 75,000 teachers will be created by the end of that year. Moreover, there are no teachers in rural schools, leading these schools to close down.”
Meanwhile, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-affiliated Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said: “Not only is there a teacher shortage, there is also a surplus. The primary reason for this is that while recruiting, there is no programme to recruit as per subject requirements. The shortage must be filled by recruiting according to the vacancies for each subject; the solution to the shortage isn’t to simply recruit 40,000 teachers to fill the deficit.”
Providing an explanation, Jayasinghe said: “In 2014, when teachers were recruited to the Western Province, the surplus of A/Level teachers for science subjects were recruited as primary teachers. This is not a subject-wise recruitment. While a science graduate is created with massive funding from taxpayers, they’re instead directed to teach the primary section.
“Moreover, during teacher recruitments in 2005, it was the clerks in zonal offices who placed the teachers in respective schools. If teachers had been recruited according to subjects, this would not have happened.”
While noting that retirement was the primary reason behind this situation, Jayasinghe noted that as per Education Ministry data, 10,800 teachers in all provinces and national schools had temporarily left the profession to either migrate or opt for the five-year no-pay leave, which was also a significant contributor to the shortage.
“While there were recent attempts to recruit teachers, due to various reasons these recruitments were unable to be fulfilled. Primarily, when recruitment of graduates into the teaching service was gazetted, petitions were filed against it in court, which delayed recruitment. Moreover, a significant number has also migrated,” Jayasinghe said.
“It is the authorities who must devise a solution. Firstly, there needs to be a solution to teachers leaving the profession. Teachers are extremely poorly paid. This salary discrepancy must be solved, with teachers being paid an acceptable salary that compensates for their labour. Otherwise, they will no longer remain in the profession.
“Moreover, the teaching service must be made into a satisfactory one, since teachers today feel frustrated within the profession, given the additional workload. This leads to people not entering the teaching service as well as to those in the service not remaining. Without resolving these issues, recruitment alone will not solve the problem,” he added.
Attempts to rectify
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has issued a notice calling for the recruitment of graduates for teacher vacancies in national schools, with interviews currently ongoing at the ministry.
Addressing this, Fernando said: “Opportunity has been given to recruit graduates. Even now, around 26,000 graduates are employed as Development Officers in schools. These individuals work as teachers despite not being teachers. It is from these graduates that they are planning to recruit teachers. The permitted number for recruitment is around 12,000 islandwide, which is not sufficient to assuage the shortage.”
Addressing the ongoing recruitments, Ministry of Education Establishment Division Additional Secretary Amal Edirisooriya said: “By the end of 2023, there was a shortage of around 40,000. At present, approval has been given to recruit teachers at the provincial level and around 13,000 will be recruited. Moreover, the competitive examination held to recruit teachers to national schools was held in March and interviews will commence from 29 April, through which 2,053 will be recruited.
“Next, 500 will be recruited from the Higher National Diploma in English, which also received Cabinet approval. Apart from this, 2,900 teaching assistants for estate schools will also be recruited. Approval has also been received to recruit retired English medium teachers. Accordingly, around 20,000 vacancies will thus be filled.”
For the remainder, Edirisooriya noted that the ongoing court case prevented recruitment for now and that nothing could be done until a decision was provided by the court. However, he noted that Development Officers were at present covering the vacancies in schools, with only their absorption into the teacher service through the competitive examination having been suspended for now.
“If the court approves recruitment or gives a decision in the case, the remaining vacancies will be filled,” he said.
Impact on quality of education
The UNESCO report notes that research has repeatedly found that teachers are the most important school-related factor affecting student learning. To achieve quality education for all, every child must therefore have access to a qualified teacher.
The impacts of shortages are manifold. Teacher shortages are costly, impact workloads, and may deter future generations from joining the profession, which can create a cycle of low-quality education, handicapping students throughout life and reproducing and perpetuating educational inequalities.
Addressing how this shortage was impacting the education of children, Fernando said: “On the one hand, it is fuelling the movement towards private education, with those with the capacity to do so opting for private or international education. On the other hand, this ensures that children without economic resources lose out on education opportunities. In about three years, this can lead to an extremely dangerous situation for society.”
Jayasinghe similarly noted: “At present, schools operate amidst a massive teacher shortage and they are finding it impossible to continue. As a result, a large number of Development Officers have been taken as teachers in some schools. Rural schools are seeing the biggest impact of this. The loss caused to children’s education due to the teacher shortage will have a long-lasting impact.”
Teacher shortages
