The Education Ministry is actively working to address two key issues affecting the teaching profession in the education sector, Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha said. 

The Education Minister said as part of this effort, the ministry will conduct a review of these issues and resolve them, enabling timely salary increments. 

“The Secretary of the Public Service Commission has agreed to expedite this process, and after receiving the necessary directives from the Ministry, we will forward them to provincial authorities by next Wednesday,” he added.

Minister Susil Premajayantha further stated that despite economic challenges, the government has successfully addressed the teacher shortage by deploying 16,000 teachers at both the national and provincial levels.

Addressing a press briefing at the Presidential Media Centre on Monday, the Education Minister outlined seven recent measures taken by the Education Ministry;

• The Chinese government has confirmed that it will provide 100% of the school uniforms for Sri Lankan school students in 2025. The distribution of school books for 2025 to local stores will commence today. 
• Arrangements are made to provide lunch for all schools, except for the main national schools, benefiting 1.7 million students.
• The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is set to provide USD 85 billion to Ocean University.
• Development activities at other universities, which were halted due to a lack of foreign aid, have also resumed. This is crucial for both the university system and the construction industry.
• The appointment of about 16,000 teachers at both national and provincial levels has been facilitated during this period, despite economic difficulties. This has helped to effectively address the teacher shortage.
• Arrangements are made to provide 2,700 high-tech Smart Boards to schools, with the goal of digitizing the entire school network. 
• The Asian Development Bank plans to provide USD 400 million for teacher training.