The long-delayed competitive examination for recruitment to Grade III of the Management Assistant Service, for which applications were called in 2019, will finally be held on Sunday, May 18.
The exam, postponed for over six years, has caused concern among thousands of applicants who were under the maximum eligible age of 35 at the time of application but have now surpassed that limit. Many others who have since passed the G.C.E. Advanced Level or reached the minimum eligible age of 18 are also now ineligible, having missed the opportunity due to the prolonged delay.
The Management Assistant Service, which includes clerks, typists, and storekeepers, has an approved cadre of 35,500 positions. However, the economic crisis in recent years led to a suspension of government sector recruitments. During former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure, nearly 100,000 individuals, including G.C.E. Ordinary Level failures and university graduates, were recruited into the public service.
Notably, no fresh recruitment has been conducted for the Management Assistant Service for over a decade.
