Education in Sri Lanka
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| Educational oversight | Ministry of Education Susil Premajayantha |
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| National education budget | Rs. (5.4% of GDP) (2007) | |
| Primary language(s) | Sinhala,Tamil and English | |
| Provincial system Established Compulsory Education = 9 yrs |
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| Literacy (2003) • Men • Women |
92.3% 94.8% 90.0% |
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| Enrollment • Primary • Secondary • Post-secondary |
' 200,000 14,000 (10-12%) |
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| Attainment • Secondary diploma • Post-secondary diploma |
< % % |
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Sri Lanka's population is highly educated with a literacy rate of 92%, higher than that expected for a third world country. Sri Lanka has one of the highest literacy rates of South Asia.This can mainly be attributed to the free education system in Sri Lanka.
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[edit] Administration
From primary to higher education, are primarily funded and overseen by three governmental ministries.[1]
- Ministry of Education - For schools, pirivenas (Schools for Buddhist priests), Teachers Training Colleges and Colleges of Education.
- Ministry of Higher Education - For Universities and Technical Colleges.
- Ministry of Education Services - For supplying the physical facilities required for general education.
However exceptions to this system exists. Mostly when it comes to tertiary with several public universities and institutes coming under the purview of different ministries. These divisions have led to a high degree of mismanagement and inefficiency over the years.
[edit] History
[edit] Schools
Sri Lanka has many boys only and girls only schools. Most of these schools were constructed during the colonial period, by the British. Some of the famous schools launched during the colonial era are Royal College in Colombo, St. Thomas College in Mount Lavinia, Trinity College in Kandy.
In 1938 the education system in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was made free following the granting of universal franchise in 1931. The late Hon. Dr.C.W.W. Kannangara took the initiative in establishing free education when he was the Minister of Education. Under this initiative the government established Madhya Maha Vidyalayas (MMV - Central Colleges) that were scattered around the island to provide education to all. The medium provided was either in Sinhala or Tamil.
In 1942 a special committee was appointed to observe the education system and among the suggestions that followed, the following still play an important role:
- i. Make available to all children a good education free of charge, so that education ceases to be a commodity purchasable only by the urban affluent.
- ii. Make national languages the media of instruction in place of English so that opportunities for higher education, lucrative employment open only to small number of the urban affluent, would become available to others as well.
- iii. Rationalize the school system so that educational provision is adequate, efficient and economical.
- iv. Ensure that every child is provided with instruction in the religion of his/her parents.
- v. Protect teachers from exploitation by managers of schools.
- vi. Make adequate provision for adult education.
After independence, the number of schools and the literacy rate of the people substantially increased. According to the Ministry of Statistics, today there are approximately 9,830 public schools serving close to 4,030,000 students, all around the island.
During the colonial times, late national heroes like Anagarika Dharmapala together with foreigners like Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky of the Buddhist Theosophical Society installed Buddhist schools to foster Sinhala students with an education rich in Buddhist values and also in order to bring Buddhism to life, at a time, it was slowly fading away from the people. Most of these schools were established in the capitals of the major provinces of Sri Lanka. The first of these were Ananda College, Colombo; Dharmaraja College, Kandy; Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala; Kingswood College, Kandy; Mahinda College, Galle; which were later followed by Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo; Nalanda College, Colombo; Mahamaya Vidyalaya, Kandy. Sri Lanka also has many catholic schools such as St. Joseph's College, St Peter's College, St. Benedict's College, in Colombo and St Anthony's College in Kandy.
Many schools were built in the post colonial era. However, the established schools who had their origins in the colonial era dominate social life in Sri Lanka mainly due the network of old boys and old girls. D. S. Senanayake College is a notable exception. This is among the few schools that have gained prestige within a very short span of its existence.
[edit] University
The origins of the modern university system in Sri Lanka dates back to 1921 when a University College, the University College, Colombo was established at the former premises of Royal College affiliated to the University of London, how ever the begin of modern higher education in Ceylon was in 1870 when the Ceylon Medical School was established. The University of Ceylon was established on 1 July 1942 by the Ceylon University Ordinance No.20 of 1942. The University was to be located in Peradeniya and was to be unitary, residential and autonomous. University of Ceylon was the only university in the country till it was dissolved and its two campuses in Peradeniya and Colombo turned into two separate Universities. Until amendments to the University Act where made in 1999 only state universities where allowed to grant undergraduate degrees, however this has since changed.
[edit] Primary & Secondary Education
[edit] Structure
Sri Lanka's education structure is divided into five parts: primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, collegiate and tertiary. Primary education lasts five to six years (Grades 1-5) and at the end of this period, the students may elect to write a national exam called the Scholarship exam. This exam allows students with exceptional skills to move on to better schools. After primary education, the junior secondary level (referred to as middle school in some schools) lasts for 4 years (Grades 6-9) followed by 2 years (Grades 10-11) of the senior secondary level which is the preparation for the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) Ordinary Level (O/Ls). According to the Sri Lankan law, it is compulsory that all children go to school till grade 9 (age 14) at which point they can choose to continue their education or drop out and engage in apprenticeship for a job or farming. However, the Ministry of Education strongly advises all students to continue with their studies at least till the G.C.E Ordinary Level. Students who are pursuing tertiary education must pass the G.C.E O/Ls in order to enter the collegiate level to study for another 2 years (grades 12-13) to sit for the G.C.E Advanced Level. On successful completion of this exam, students can move on to tertiary education, there for the GCE A/Ls is the university entrance exam in Sri Lanka.[2]
Due to the variety of ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, many schools teach only in either Sinhala medium or in Tamil medium and not the English medium. The elite colleges in major cities such as Colombo and Kandy, teach in all three medium.
[edit] Normal Ages
[edit] Primary
- Kindergarten: 4-5 year olds
- Grade 1: 5-6 year olds
- Grade 2: 6-7 year olds
- Grade 3: 7-8 year olds
- Grade 4: 8-9 year olds
- Grade 5: 9-10 year olds - Scholarship Examination
[edit] Secondary
- Junior secondary
- Grade 6: 10-11 year olds
- Grade 7: 11-12 year olds
- Grade 8: 12-13 year olds
- Grade 9: 13-14 year olds
- Senior secondary
- Grade 10: 14-15 year olds
- Grade 11: 15-16 year olds - G.C.E Ordinary Level Examination
- Collegiate
- Grade 12: 16-17 year olds
- Grade 13: 17-18 year olds - G.C.E Advance Level Examination
NB: In some cases students may be slightly younger.
[edit] Government Schools
Most of the schools in Sri Lanka are maintained by the government as a part of the free education. Currently there are 9,829 government schools , 561 Pirivenas.[2] With the establishment if the provincial council system in the 1980s the central government handed control of the most of the its schools to the local governments. However the old schools which had been around since the colonial times a retained by the central government, thus creating two types of government schools;
- National Schools
- Provincial Schools
- Pirivenas (Schools for Buddhist priests)
[edit] National Schools
National Schools come under the direct control of the Ministry of Education therefore has direct funding from the ministry. Most of these schools where established during the colonial period and therefor are established institutions. These few are referred to as famous schools or elite schools since they have a rich history and well maintained facilities than the average public school. This is mainly due the support of its alumni. In resent years newer schools and several central colleges have been upgraded to national schools from time to time. Thereby making the total number of national schools 323.[2]
[edit] Provincial Schools
Provincial Schools consists of the vast majority of schools in Sri Lanka. Funded and controlled by the local governments many suffer from poor facilities and a shortage of teachers.
[edit] Non-Government Schools
[edit] Private Schools
There has been a considerable increase in the number of private schools in Sri Lanka, due to the emergence of the upper-middle class during the colonial era. These private schools follow the local curriculum set up by the Ministry of Education in the local language mediums of Sinhala or Tamil or English. Many of the private schools have access to newer facilities than state run schools. Currently there are 66 Private schools (registered before 1960 and not since then) of these, 33 non-fee-levying Assisted Private Schools (also known as semi-government schools) and 33 fee levying autonomous Private Schools, in addition to the Government Schools.[2] Out of them, the most famous ones are St. Joseph's College, St Peter's College and St. Benedict's College which are Catholic Schools; Bishop's College, Colombo Ladies College, Colombo and St Bridget's Convent are Anglican schools; Methodist College and Wesley College which are Methodist school and Musaeus College, Holy Family Convent, Dehiwela, are semi-government schools.
[edit] International Schools
International schools in Sri Lanka are not restricted to the expatriate community, anyone with the ability and willingness to pay can join these schools. Starting in the late 1980s these schools have no regulation or control by the Ministry of Education as it comes under the Board of Investment (BOI), [2] due to this the standard of education varies greatly between schools and with lesser levels of student discipline compared with other types of schools. The schools are mainly for the children of the expatriate community, charge high tuition fees and can therefore provide good facilities and high standards.
The majority of International schools prepares students for the Edexcel General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary , Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and Advanced (A2) Level examinations, which is the most popular qualification. Preparation for Cambridge International Examinations is also offered by a few schools but is less popular.
The Overseas School of Colombo is the leading international schools for expatriates, the curriculum followed leads to an IB Diploma. This, together with The British School in Colombo are the sole IB World Schools in the country.
[edit] Tertiary Education
University education is also free but extremely limited. This is noteworthy to mention, especially because, Sri Lanka is named a third world country. However less than 12% (less than 16,000 students) of those qualified get admission to the State Universities and of that only half graduates [3]. Admission to the university system is based on the highly competitive GCE Advanced Level examination. So, only the top students from urban district get the chances of having tertiary education. Children from remote districts can get in with lower marks. As a result, many students who are not granted admission are forced to find other means of higher education. Some students go abroad to pursue their studies in foreign universities[4], others enroll themselves at the Open University of Sri Lanka or at the few state-owned autonomous degree awarding institutes (such as the SLIIT, ITS) or study as external students of traditional universities or at private institutes (such as the IIT, APIIT,IIHE) that conduct classes and exams on behalf of foreign universities (such as the University of London External Programme). Some study for entrance/membership for professional bodies both foreign (such as CIMA, BCS, ACCA, etc) and local (such as ICASL, SLIM) or do vocational studies at vocational technical colleges which specialize in mechanical and electronic subjects. But the majority give up any hope for higher education due the inability to fund their studies since no financial support is given by the government other than to those qualified to get admission to the State Universities.
There is significant number of unemployed graduates in Sri Lanka at present, except in the fields of medicine, engineering, information technology, commerce and law; many state university graduates are unemployed as there is no demand both within and out side the country for the degrees they have done. Due to these reasons, many intellectuals often express the need for Private Universities in the country, where students could study in their home country at a lower cost. The North Colombo Medical College (NCMC) was one such institute, prior to its nationalization, it produced some of the best doctors in Sri Lanka. But efforts to establish Private Universities have been blocked due to protests from state universities' students and leftist political parties. In recent years this has become a reason for students to prefer going abroad or study at other institutes and professional bodies, instead of entering state universities even though they are accepted by them.
There are currently only 16 state universities in Sri Lanka. The prominent ones are University of Colombo, University of Peradeniya, University of Moratuwa, University of Kelaniya, University of Sri Jayawardhenapura, University of Jaffna, University of Ruhuna, and Eastern University of Sri Lanka. In recent years with changes to the University Act a few institutes have been given permission to grant their own degrees, the most prominent is the government owned Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology.
For a complete list, see : Sri Lankan universities
- Classification of tertiary qualifications
- Certificate - 1 year or less than 1 year of study.
- Diploma - 1-2 years of study.
- Bachelors degree
- Masters degree - which are undertaken after the completion of one or more Bachelors degrees. Masters degrees deal with a subject at a more advanced level than Bachelors degrees, and can consist either of research, coursework, or a mixture of the two.
- Doctorate - most famously Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), which are undertaken after an Honours Bachelors or Masters degree, by an original research project resulting in a thesis or dissertation.
[edit] Vocational Education and Training
Apart from these, the Ministry of Education has launched a non-formal vocational education program which allows school left-outs and adults who did not complete their school education, to earn a living, through self-employment. Most of these courses are held at community centres and they cover a wide range of fields such as dressmaking, beauty culture, hairdressing, stitching, carpentry, plumbing, painting and so on.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Website of the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka
- Official Website of the Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka
- Department of Examinations, Sri Lanka
- Education Guide - Sri Lanka
- Advanced Level Projects Help - Sri Lanka Edition
- Forum Website for A/L students - Sri Lanka
- Find teachers, schools, colleges, universities in Sri Lanka
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