Connect with us

News

National Policy on recruitment of teachers out soon

Published

on

By Saman Indrajith

Leader of the House and Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that a national policy to recruit teachers to the school system was being formulated and it would be introduced to the country soon.

 Speaking at the Consultative Committee on Education held in Parliament on Friday (10), Minister Gunawardena said that the need for a national policy to recruit persons to the teaching service had been there for decades.

 He also pointed out that there was a need to formulate a proper system to fill the vacancies of principals in schools with qualified teachers.

 While claiming that resolving the current teacher salary anomaly is a serious problem, State Minister Susil Premajayantha said that the process of locating teachers should also be streamlined. The State Minister also stated that a programme was underway to transform the teacher training National Colleges of Education into Universities.

 Minister Premajayantha said that there were 240,000 teachers in 10,155 schools across the country teaching 4,300,000 children. The student to teacher ratio was 17:1. Although that ratio was for the national level, there was a disparity when it came to schools which had less than 100 students. There the student- teacher ratio was 7:1, the State Minister pointed out.

 Addressing the committee through online technology, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that the official languages are in a state of decline. He also drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that English was becoming the language of education in the country at present.

 It was revealed at the Consultative Committee on Education that the report of the technical committee for the inclusion of law as a subject in the school syllabus would be submitted to the relevant subcommittee within two weeks. It was also suggested that law should be included not as a separate subject but as part of the subject of Civic education. Member of Parliament Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said that it was very important to include children’s rights in it as well. She pointed out that the relationship between law and society should also be reflected in it.

 It was also discussed at this Committee that a proper programme should be implemented to make permanent the graduate trainees attached to schools. MPs brought to the notice of the committee that out of 60,000 graduates, 18,000 were currently attached to schools and the methodology proposed to make them permanent was problematic.

 State Minister Jayantha Samaraweera stated that some of the graduates who were currently attached to schools do not like the methodology.

MP Chandima Weerakkody pointed out the need to implement a proper programme to protect the dignity of teachers.

 Further discussions were held at the Committee on the School Selection Programme for the project to establish 1000 National Schools. The Committee Chairman informed the Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Prof. Kapila Perera to take measures and explain the matter to the Committee.

 State Minister Sitha Arambepola, Members of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Education, MPs Anupa Pasqual, Yadamini Gunawardena and Premanath C. Dolawatta were also present at the Committee Meeting. Meanwhile Minister Douglas Devananda, State Ministers Vijitha Berugoda and Piyal Nishantha as well as Parliamentarians Upul Mahendra Rajapaksa and Gevindu Kumaratunga joined the Committee via online technology.

 Officials of the Ministry of Education and related institutions also participated in this committee meeting through online technology.

 The Committee which met after a six months lapse was the first Ministerial Consultative Committee Meeting of the Ministry of Education held after the appointment of Dinesh Gunawardena as the Minister of Education, Parliament sources said.



Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Foreign News

Thousands flee floods after dam collapse near Nova Kakhovka

Published

on

By

President Zelensky shared a video of the dam on Telegram (pic BBC)

BBC reported that thousands of people are being evacuated downstream of a major dam which has been blown up in Russian-held Ukraine.

President Zelensky said 80 towns and villages were at risk of flooding after the destruction of the dam at Nova Kakhovka, which he blamed on Russia. Water is surging down the Dnipro river and is said to pose a catastrophic flooding risk to the city of Kherson.

Russia has denied destroying the dam – which it controls – instead blaming Ukrainian shelling. Neither Ukraine or Russia’s claim has been verified by the BBC.

The Kakhovka dam is crucial in the region. It contains a reservoir, which provides water to farmers and residents, as well as to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It is also is a vital channel carrying water south to Russian-occupied Crimea.

Video footage shows a torrent of floodwater gushing through a breach in the dam. Several towns are already flooded, while people in areas further downstream were forced to flee by bus and train.

Around 40,000 people need to be evacuated, Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktoriya Lytvynova said on Ukrainian television – 17,000 people in Ukraine-controlled territory west of the Dnipro River and 25,000 on the Russian-controlled east.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Sagala Ratnayaka leads Sri Lanka delegation to 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue

Published

on

By

Chief of Staff to the President and National Security Advisor (NSA) Sagala Ratnayaka led the Sri Lanka delegation to the 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier Security Summit held in Singapore from 2 – 4 June 2023.

The highly anticipated summit commenced on 2 June with a powerful Keynote address delivered by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Throughout the event, a series of plenary sessions delved into various crucial geo-political issues, encompassing the establishment of a stable and balanced Asia Pacific, the resolution of regional tensions, the evolution of maritime security in Asia, US leadership in the Indo-Pacific, and China’s latest security initiatives, among other topics.

During the Special Session focusing on ‘Defence Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region,’ Ratnayaka delivered an impactful statement, participating alongside representatives from India, Oman, France, and the United States. He emphasized the significance of keeping big power rivalries and external conflicts out of the Indian Ocean, highlighting Sri Lanka’s efforts in the United Nations to declare the region as a zone of peace. Furthermore, he underscored the country’s contributions to preserving freedom of navigation and over flight, stressing the crucial need for constructive dialogue among all stakeholders in the Indian Ocean region to pursue shared interests.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Prices of sixty essential drugs to be reduced from 15th June

Published

on

By

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal raised by the Minister of Health to reduce the maximum retail price of 60 medicines by 16% with effect from 15.06.2023 and review the price of medicines every three months

Continue Reading

Trending