The purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. -Sydney J. Harris-

Education in Sri Lanka

The Covid 19 pandemic has brought to light the many structural weaknesses present in Sri Lanka. One of the major topics of discussion has been the Sri Lankas education system. From the actions taken by the Teacher Trade Unions due to the difficulties in continuing education during the pandemic to the high rate of brain drain prevalent in Sri Lanka it is clear that our education system is both the problem and the solution.

The structural organization of the Sri Lankan education system

(Illustrated above are the possible paths for an average student in the country.

The numbers shown to the left of the diagram indicate the mandatory number of years for each section.)

A student could choose to follow the traditional education path of moving from Senior Secondary School to Higher Education Institution or chose to follow a path in Technical and Vocational Educational Institutions

Statistically, Sri Lanka has an adult literacy rate of 92%, which is higher than the regional average of 72.24% and is therefore a great achievement given that Sri Lanka is a developing country. Furthermore, the introduction of the free education system led to massive improvements in the availability of education and the ability to make use of opportunities for students. Even though the structure and concept behind Sri Lankas education system is positive, many challenges need to be overcome to ensure improvement and success of the education systems.

One major symptom of problems in the education system is Sri Lanka's significant outbound student mobility. Due to capacity constraints and mismatch in the job market and programmes offered by public universities, a significant number of students opt to study at foreign universities. Sri Lanka's state universities admit that out of the 220,000 students who sit the A-Level Examinations only 23,000 students are admitted to public universities. Accordingly, in 2013 12,000 Sri Lankan students sought education opportunities abroad.

Given Sri Lankas economic growth rates, capacity constraints and demographic pressures outbound student mobility is expected to further increase into the future. However, the number of inbound students to Sri Lanka is small. In 2016, only 986 students from foreign countries were studying in Sri Lankan campuses.

Additionally, increasing numbers of professionals are opting to migrate to foreign countries. The current net migration rate for Sri Lanka in 2021 is -4.270 per 1000 population, a 2.73% decline from 2020. According to indicators, this puts Sri Lanka at an extremely low rank in the global net migration rates, with thousands of people leaving the country each year.

The capacity constraints, concerns over quality of education, overcrowding in public schools and lower availability of offered courses and subjects has led to a large increase in private schools in the country. The overall number of private schools has tripled from 37 in 1983 to 98 today.

Given the above statistics it is clear that even though a well-developed education system is a strength for an economy, inefficient management of the education system will instead lead to irreversible problems and challenges.

Strategies for Improving the Sri Lankan Education System

1) Creating focused and achievable goals while building the national curriculum and education systems around these goals

Popular educators such as Julius Nyerere have continuously emphasized the importance of creating an education system that is relevant to the history, culture and future goals of the particular country. The education system should not exist to divide the educated from the uneducated but to bring them together to move towards the success of the economy.

The absence of focused national goals and the necessary curriculum to drive movement towards the necessary goals is a clear issue in the Sri Lanka.

Comparing Sri Lanka and the global movement towards areas such Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and other STEM subjects and given the high demand for these fields in the job market, it is clear that these areas have a lot of space for improvement in the Sri Lankan education system.

2) Changes in teaching styles and techniques used.

Students learn best when given the opportunity to experiment and experience education for themselves. Considering Sri Lanka, innovative and interesting educational methods need to be introduced to ensure that students cultivate a lifelong love for learning.

A great example of innovative educational techniques followed in several developed countries is the STEAM method for teaching STEM related subjects. The concept followed by STEAM is to use Arts and creative tools to teach STEM subjects. This includes but is not limited to, introducing Math gaming platforms in schools and building and using LEGO structures to help students understand Engineering and Science concepts.

Furthermore, Sri Lankan students continuously face unnecessary competition, pressure and stress throughout their educational journey - from the Year Five Scholarship Exams to the University Entrance Examinations. It has been proven by some of the worlds best education systems that children do not need to be in constant competition and pressure to do well in their academic careers.

A great example in this regard is Finland. With Finland’s education system and students’ performance scores consistently being ranked among the top five globally, one would expect strenuous academic routines and high competition. However, this is not the case. Given below are few of the major features of the Finnish Education System that has led to large improvements in its educational performance.

• No mandated, standardized tests apart from one final exam during the senior year

• Grades and performance shared only with individual students and are not used as a measure of comparison

• Students start school at an older age, which allows them to spend their childhood experiencing and learning other skills essential for proper development

• Schools start later during the day allowing students plenty of time for rest and relaxation

• Proving well recognized professional options beyond the traditionally recognized college degree

• Less number of students in each class

• Consistent instruction from same teachers – as students in Finland usually have same teacher for roughly 6 years the teachers are able to understand each student individually and support them as necessary

• According to OECD, Finnish students have the least amount of homework compared to all other students in the world.

They further do not have the tuition-culture encouraged in Sri Lanka, where students spend the entire day studying the same subject with different teachers from different places!

A common feature of any developed country is a well thought out, organized and efficient education system. Great education systems create great future generations, lead the movement within the country towards achieving national goals and lead to higher standards of living. Students coming out of a good education system cannot be controlled by corruption or pulled down by difficulties and challenges.

Therefore, if Sri Lanka is to develop in any way the key will be in developing our education systems. If we are to produce the next generation of great writers, leaders and professionals who contribute nationally and globally, the only path is through developing a great education system.

Content By: Rtr. Mahelee Hewawasam, 3rd Year, BSc. Economics

Edited By: Rtr. Dulithi Jagoda, 3rd Year, BSc. Economics and Finance

Design By: Rtr. Mohamed Umiar Jamal, BSc. Data Science and Business Analytics