A significant delay in admissions to teacher training colleges has left around 8,000 students who passed their Advanced Level exams in 2023 and 2024 in limbo, according to the Teacher Education Services Union.
Senior lecturer and Union Secretary Dhammika Mirihana attributed the delay to the National Institute of Education’s (NIE) failure to prepare and release new curricula.
He revealed that the NIE has yet to even draft a concept for the updated courses, causing a hold-up in the official gazette necessary for admissions.
Mirihana warned that this bottleneck could have severe consequences for the country’s education sector, as teacher training colleges supply approximately 70% of the nation’s school teachers.
Without swift action, he cautioned that these institutions risk running empty by July 2026, as current students are deployed to schools without replacements coming in.
The situation highlights growing concerns about a potential teacher shortage looming on the horizon unless the NIE addresses the curricular delay promptly.
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