– The Health and Mass Media Ministry has issued a special gazette notification to recruit 3,000 nursing students as part of its plan to strengthen the country’s nursing workforce and achieve its target of recruiting 13,600 nurses between 2025 and 2029.

According to the ministry, applications have been called from students who passed the General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) Examination under the Science and Mathematics streams in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.Eligible candidates can submit applications through the ministry’s official website, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, from May 29 to June 30.

The ministry said interviews will be conducted to select qualified applicants, with nursing training programmes for the successful candidates expected to commence by the end of this year.Officials said that a total of 43,553 nursing officers are currently serving in the public health sector. To address existing workforce shortages, 3,441 Grade III nursing officers have been recruited over the past two years, while appointment letters have recently been issued to 515 nursing graduates holding Bachelor of Science degrees.

In addition, nearly 7,800 nursing students are currently undergoing professional training at nursing colleges across the country and are expected to join the health service in the future.

The recruitment drive forms part of the ministry’s broader strategy to strengthen the national healthcare system by increasing the nursing workforce by 13,600 personnel during the 2025-2029 period under the guidance of Health and Mass Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa