Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the government has decided to recruit 3,000 nurses to the Nursing Service. The Minister has given instructions to the relevant officers to speed up the necessary process for recruitment.
The Minister has also instructed the Health Ministry Secretary to prepare the related Cabinet paper if there is a problem regarding the recruitment. The Minister stated this in a discussion held at the Health Ministry with the participation of officials related to the Nursing Service of the Health Ministry including Health Secretary Janaka Sri Chandragupta.
Nearly 2,500 trainees and 500 nursing graduates who were recruited for student nursing training in 2018 are scheduled to join the Nursing Service in Sri Lanka.
The Ministry has also planned to release the gazette for the recruitment of student nurses based on the results of the 2019/2020 Advanced Level examination by mid-September. The selected applicants will undergo three years of nursing training. Last July, 3,315 nursing students were enrolled for training, based on the Advanced Level results of 2018/2019. Currently, the number of student nurses undergoing nursing training in Sri Lanka is about 6,700.
Sandhya Karunaratne