Anyone taking up a public-sector post that involves direct contact with children would have to produce a certificate confirming they have no record of child-related offences, under a proposal the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has put to Cabinet.
Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj set out the plan at a media briefing at the Department of Government Information, saying the Cabinet paper has already been submitted for approval, the Daily Mirror reported.
How it would work
The certificate would be issued by the police or another relevant government authority and would confirm that the holder has no record of child-related offences or allegations.
The requirement would not stop at hiring. It would also apply to people already in the public service, who would have to renew the certificate at set points in their careers — the Minister named performance reviews, efficiency bar examinations and salary-increment evaluations as the trigger points.
That is the substantive design choice. A one-off check at recruitment screens out a candidate with a prior record; tying renewal to the routine milestones of a public-service career means the check recurs for the length of that career, catching anything that arises after appointment.
Paulraj said keeping people with child-related criminal histories out of positions that give them direct access to children is an important step in strengthening child protection in Sri Lanka.
Hiru News, reporting the same briefing, describes the certificate as confirming the holder has not been accused of child-related crimes, and lists service breaks alongside salary increments as renewal points.
The wording matters
The two accounts differ in a way worth noting. A certificate confirming no conviction and a certificate confirming no accusation are very different instruments: the second would exclude people against whom an allegation was made and never substantiated. The Daily Mirror’s account uses “no record of child-related offences or allegations,” Hiru’s uses “not been accused.” Neither report resolves which standard the Cabinet paper actually sets, and the distinction determines how far the scheme reaches.
Not reported
Neither outlet says which ministries or job categories count as involving “direct contact with children,” whether teachers, health workers and childcare staff are covered as a class, or what happens to a serving officer who cannot obtain a certificate. Neither gives a date for Cabinet to take the paper up, an implementation timeline, the issuing authority in cases where the police are not the relevant body, or whether any appeal exists against a refusal. Neither reports what the scheme would cost or how many public servants would fall within it.
