The government will recruit 121,000 people into the public service by the end of this year, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Sunday, in what would be the largest state hiring round since recruitment was frozen several years ago.
Speaking at a public rally in Akuressa, Matara, under the theme “Two Years of Government — Good for the Country,” the President said the intake includes 10,000 police officers and 23,000 teachers, Hiru News reported.
He said public sector recruitment had been halted for several years, and that generating these jobs for rural youth would support families and strengthen the wider economy.
A committee chaired by the Prime Minister is sizing the intake
The President said a committee chaired by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya was set up to assess the specific operational requirements of each state institution, so that recruitment is done systematically “rather than arbitrarily.”
That is the closest thing to a control mechanism disclosed so far. It is not stated whether the committee has finished its work, whether the 121,000 figure is its output or its ceiling, or how the total breaks down beyond police and teachers — the two named categories account for 33,000, leaving 88,000 posts unallocated in public.
The teacher figure does not match the responsible minister’s
Two days before the rally, Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Professor Chandana Abayaratne gave a different number for the same recruitment.
Speaking on 18 September at the opening of a new upper floor at Siyambalangashena U.B. Jayasuriya Maha Vidyalaya in the Anamaduwa Educational Zone, Puttalam, the Minister said examinations have already been held to recruit 30,000 teachers, with marking under way, Hiru News reported.
The President’s 23,000 and the Minister’s 30,000 are a 7,000 gap on the same intake, from the two officials most directly responsible. Neither acknowledges the other’s figure. The likeliest reconciliation — that 30,000 sat the examination and 23,000 will be appointed — is not stated by either, and should not be assumed.
Abayaratne also said many schools had been running under acting principals since 2020 because no graded principal appointments were made, and that graded appointments have resumed after examinations were held and scripts evaluated. Future teacher recruitment, he said, will match subject-specific vacancies — mathematics teachers appointed to mathematics posts — rather than placing graduates in schools in bulk without subject alignment. Development Officers currently teaching in schools are to be regularised into the teaching service.
New uniforms and higher allowances for police by next June
In a separate announcement at the same rally, the President said the government has decided to increase allowances for police officers and issue a new uniform by June next year, with provisions to be included in the upcoming budget.
He said officers often work 18 to 20 hours a day, and that alongside the allowance rise they will be issued a modernised kit — new uniforms, body cameras, batons and torches.
The body cameras are the substantive item. They are an accountability technology as much as an equipment upgrade, and the President did not say how many will be issued, whether their use will be mandatory, who will control the footage, or how long it will be retained.
Two commitments, two different budgets
The timing splits the package across fiscal years. The 121,000 recruits are promised by 31 December; the police allowance rise and new kit are for June 2027 and depend on the budget yet to be presented. Only the first is due under money already voted.
Still unstated
The breakdown of the remaining 88,000 posts by ministry or grade; the annual wage cost of 121,000 new salaries and how it fits the public-sector wage bill agreed under the IMF programme; whether the Prime Minister’s committee has reported; how many of the 121,000 are new posts rather than existing vacancies; the size of the police allowance increase; and how the 23,000 and 30,000 teacher figures reconcile.
