The Supreme Court this week ordered the Education Ministry to go ahead with the recruitment of 4,718 principals (Grade III) category ending a stalemate in filling vacancies. The court ordered that the recruitment could be carried out based on the exam held in February 2019. The recruitment process was paused after Ven Buddankotte Sumanabandu thera filed an FR petition, thereby stalling recruitment.
Already some 7,319 who passed the examination had been recruited. The court order was given following a settlement reached between the parties to the case. The bench comprised Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Shiran Gooneratne and Janak de Silva. The Education Ministry had said that cases have been an obstacle to filling teacher and principal vacancies. -RP