Sri Lankan tea, known for generations as ’Ceylon Tea’ carries behind it a heritage and a success story like no other.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while attending the International Tea Day, Tea for Harmony: Yaji 2025 China-Sri Lanka Cultural Gala event held 21st May at Marino Beach hotel in Colombo.

This event organized by China Cultural Centre in Sri Lanka, Department of Cultural and Tourism of XiZang Autonomous region - China, Ministry of culture and tourism -China and Embassy of China in Sri Lanka.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister further stated,

“It is a great pleasure to address you at the Tea for Harmony: Yaji 2025 China–Sri Lanka Cultural Gala-especially today, as we celebrate International Tea Day. This day offers a unique opportunity to reflect on and honour the rich cultural heritage, health benefits, and economic importance of tea, a beverage that has united people and cultures across centuries.

The Sri Lanka- China relationship is centuries old, and has been historically strengthened by shared religious and cultural values.

Sri Lanka is known to the whole world for its tea due to its unique flavour, aroma and colour. Sri Lankan tea, known for generations as ’Ceylon Tea’ carries behind it a heritage and a success story like no other.

It is therefore in the interests of the Sri Lankan Tea brand to continue to work towards ensuring dignified work conditions and protection for all those involved in the production, especially the pluckers who have historically faced many problems. This is something we are a government are committed towards.

Today, Sri Lanka stands as the world’s third-largest tea exporter, accounting for approximately 15% of global tea exports. In the face of significant challenges, our tea industry recorded impressive achievements in 2024.

Moreover, Ceylon Tea is the major supplier to the Chinese market among all tea producing nations in the world. The Chinese market ranked as the top five destination of supplying Ceylon Tea.

In conclusion, I extend sincere appreciation to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo for organizing this wonderful celebration of tea and culture. Let us continue to cherish and promote the harmony that tea brings to our peoples and our nations.”

The event was attended by Venerable Kirinde Assaji Nayaka Thero, H.E. Qi Zhenhong, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Sri Lanka and chinese and Sri Lankans.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the government is committed to safeguarding religious and cultural heritage.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while attending a ceremony of donating tablet computers containing electronic versions of the Tripitaka and printed Tripitaka texts to 60 university Bhikkhus organized by the Buddha Sravaka Caring Centre in Padukka under the concept of Venerable Kurupita Dhammananda Thero today (21) at the premises of Temple Trees.

During the occasion, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya presented the tablets with the electronic Tripitaka to the Maha Sangha.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

Initiatives such as this are profoundly timely and essential for the preservation of the Dhamma.

The current rapid technological advancements pose a challenge to the safeguarding of spiritual traditions. However, this initiative clearly demonstrates how technology and innovation can be meaningfully utilized to teach, preserve, and promote Buddhist philosophy.

The Tripitaka is not merely a collection of religious texts, it forms the ethical, philosophical, and spiritual foundation of Buddhist discipline. Granting young Bhikkhus quicker access to the sacred texts strengthens intergenerational bonds within the monastic order. Moreover, it provides opportunities for studying, internalizing, and integrating the Dhamma into life while aligning to the today’s world.

The government is committed to supporting such projects and to protecting religious and cultural heritage. Supporting institutions like the Buddha Shravaka Caring Centre is considered essential for the ethical and spiritual well-being of our society.

The care, rest, protection, respect, and service provided by the Buddha Shravaka Caring Centre to ailing Bhikkhus is a prime example of the highest ideals of our nation.

I extend my gratitude to everyone who contributed to this meritorious endeavor.

Whether in material form or through spiritual encouragement, the support offered reflects the generosity and collective spirit of our community.

The event was graced by the presence of Venerable Kutawatte Saranankara in Malaysia, Venerable Kadahingala Dhammarakkhita Thero, and the Maha Sangha and devotees from Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

There is a shortage of 40,000 Teachers Island wide.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that there is currently a shortage of 40,000 teachers across the country, and that the government expects to recruit a certain number of the required vacancies by the end of this year.

The Prime Minister made these remarks in Parliament today (21), while responding to a question raised by the member of the opposition, Mujibur Rahuman.

The Prime Minister further stated:

There are currently 4,240 teacher vacancies in the Sinhala medium and 2,827 in the Tamil medium for Grades 1 to 5 in government schools. The number of vacancies form Grades 6 to 11 reported 11,274 in the Sinhala medium and 6,121 in the Tamil medium.

In the Western Province alone, government schools report 1,310 Sinhala medium and 302 Tamil medium teacher shortages for Grades 1 to 5. For Grades 6 to 11, the vacancies stand at 1,325 for Sinhala medium teachers and 397 for Tamil medium teachers. As a whole, nationwide there are 40,000 vacancies for teachers.

The Public Service Commission has issued a recommendation that recruitments to fill the vacancies in the Ministry of Education should be done through an examination-based process. Currently, there is an ongoing court case regarding the recruitment of graduates into the teaching profession. Taking all these matters into consideration, attention is being directed towards recruiting graduates to fill the existing teacher vacancies.

However, the Prime Minister emphasized that the government expects to fill at least a certain number of the required vacancies by the end of this year.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the recruitment of trainee teachers has been carried out in accordance with the prevailing system, and some issues have arisen due to the shortcomings of the existing system that are now being addressed.

The Prime Minister made these remarks in Parliament today (20) while responding to a question raised by the Opposition.

The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

The decisions to recruit the trainee teachers are made by the existing vacancies of teachers due to retirement of current teachers and the differences in subject curriculum in remote areas, thereby carefully calculating the teacher vacancies based on subject requirements and taking the availability of capacity to recruit trainee teachers at the level of National college of education. Subsequently, after obtaining the National Diploma in Teaching, appointments to government schools are granted based on the results of the final year examination of the respective colleges of education.

Although recruitments are made at district, provincial, and national levels, if there are no existing vacancies in the relevant area at the time of appointment, the appointees are assigned to other provinces or districts. It has been clearly stated in the special gazette notification related to the recruitment to colleges of education that teachers who are recruited must be willing to serve in any part of the country. Furthermore, if there are no vacancies in the provinces corresponding to the subjects applied for by the teacher trainees, they are assigned to other regions where such vacancies exist, based on the consent of the trainee.

Certain issues have arisen in the process of filling the existing vacancies. Although the recruitment and vacancy identification procedures have been followed, such issues have emerged due to deficiencies in the current system. At present, the Ministry of Education is actively taking the necessary measures to identify and rectify these issues. As a result, the batches of 2020 and 2022 have been recruited for teaching appointments based on their consent.

However, we recommend that the teachers accept the appointments that have already been offered. Subsequently, based on specific procedures or personal preference, they may request transfers. These matters must be considered both from the perspective of the teachers and the students. We are aware that some individuals have received appointments from the South to the North. Likewise, there are teachers who have remained in the same location for over eight years. All of these issues have been recognized, and steps are being taken to address and resolve them.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන්විදුලි සංස්ථාවේ දමිළ අංශයේ නියෝජ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂක ජනරාල් ලෙසත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රූපවාහිනී සංසථාවේ දමිළ පුවත් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නෙකු ලෙසත් කටයුතු කළ ජෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී වී. එන්. මදිඅලහන් මහතා විසින් රචිත "වී.එන්. මදිඅලහන් කියන පුවත්" සහ "දමිළ විකාශනයේ ස්වර්ණමය යුගයේ සටහන්" නැමති දමිළ ග්‍රන්ථ ද්විත්වය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය වෙත පිළිගැන්වීම අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ දී සිදු කෙරිණ.

වී.එන්. මදිඅලහන් මහතාගේ සහෝදරිය වන ආනන්ද ලක්ෂ්මී ධර්මශීලන් විසින් මෙම කෘති ආග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය වෙත පිලිගැන් වූ අතර දැනට යාපනය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ මාධ්‍ය පිලිබඳ හදාරණ විද්‍යාර්ථින්ගේ පර්යේෂණ සඳහා භාවිතයට ගැනෙන මෙම කෘති පාසල් දරුවන්ට පරිහරණය කළ හැකි පරිදි පාසල් පුස්තකාල 1000 ක් වෙත ලබා දීමට සැළසුම් කර ඇති බව වී.එන්. මදිඅලහන් මහතාගේ සහෝදරිය පැවසුවාය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට වී.එන්. ආනන්ද ලක්ෂ්මීගේ පුත්‍රයා වන අදිත්‍යන් සහ ඔහුගේ දියණිය තිරිනේට්ට්‍රි යන දෙපළ ද සහභාගී විය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Newly appointed High Commissioners, Ambassadors, and Consuls designated to represent Sri Lanka paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on May 19 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Those scheduled to assume their diplomatic duties abroad include P. M. Kolonne for India, former Justice to Supreme Court Jayanta Jayasuriya for New York, R. M. Mahindadasa Ratnayake for Cuba, Rear Admiral (Retired) Fred Senewiratne for Pakistan, Professor P. Janaka Kumarasinghe for Japan, Professor Arusha Kure for United Arab Emirates, and S. D. N. U. Senadhira for United Kingdom.

During the meeting, the diplomats apprised the Prime Minister of the key priorities and areas of engagement they intend to pursue during their respective office and the Prime Minister extended her congratulations and best wishes to the appointees as they prepared to undertake their official responsibilities on behalf of the nation.

The occasion was attended by the Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr. Pradeep Saputhantri, and Director General of Human Resources and Operational Management at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sumith Dissanayake, along with several other dignitaries.

Prime Minister’s Media Division