Education in Sri Lanka

A standard system of colonial schools were begun by the British based on the recommendations of the Colebrooke Commission in 1836. This is regarded as the beginning of the government's schooling system in the island. It started with the establishment of the Royal College in Colombo (formerly the Colombo Academy) and lead to the formation of several single sex schools constructed during the colonial period, by the British.[9] Some of these schools were affiliated to the Anglican Church. These included S.Thomas' College Mount Lavinia and Trinity College Kandy. The education in vernacular schools was largely free due to government grants to cover the cost of teaching and local philanthropists providing the buildings, equipment and the books.[10] Colebrooke decreed that all government schools be discontinued. The order did not apply to denominational Missionary schools and they continued to function unceasingly.

Royal College Main building

In 1938 the education system in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was made formally free following the granting of universal franchise in 1931. The Minister of Education, late Hon. Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara, and the Executive Committee of Education which included members such as H. W. Amarasuriya took the initiative in establishing free 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 was either Sinhala or Tamil.

In 1942 a special committee was appointed to observe the education system and, among the suggestions that followed, the following 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 substantially increased. According to the Ministry of Statistics, today there are approximately 10,012 public schools serving close to 4,037,157 students, all around the island.

During the colonial times, late national heroes like Anagarika Dharmapala with foreigners like Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky of the Buddhist Theosophical Society installed Buddhist schools to foster Sinhala students with an English education rich in Buddhist values and to bring Buddhism to life, at a time when it was slowly fading away. Most of these schools were established in the capitals of the major provinces of Sri Lanka. The first of these were Ananda College, Colombo (formerly English Buddhist School); Dharmaraja College, Kandy (formerly Kandy Buddhist High School); Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala (formerly Kurunegala Buddhist Institution); Musaeus College, Colombo[11] and Mahinda College, Galle (formerly Galle Buddhist Theosophical Society School);[12] which were followed decades later by Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo (formerly Buddhist Girls College), Nalanda College, Colombo and Mahamaya Vidyalaya, Kandy.

Sri Lanka also has many Catholic schools such as St. Joseph's College, St Bridget's Convent, Good Shepherd Convent, St Peter's College, St. Anthony's College, Kandy and the Joseph Vaz College named after the Sri Lankan saint Joseph Vaz. The earliest schools such as Richmond College, Galle, Jaffna Central College, Wesley College, Colombo, Kingswood College, Kandy(formerly Boys' High School, Kandy); Girls' High School, Kandy and Methodist College, Colombo were started by the Methodist Church.[13] 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 networks of old boys and old girls.

Several superficial changers to the school system took place in the post-independence era. These include the change of the primary medium of education to the national languages, nationalization of private schools and the introduction of national/provisional school system.

There are 749 Muslim schools in Sri Lanka, 205 madrasas which teach Islamic education, and an Islamic university in Beruwala (Jamiya Naleemiya). Zahira College, Colombo is considered to be one of the oldest and the most prominent Muslim school in the country initiated by M. C. Siddi Lebbe, while Al Iman Schools in Colombo was the first Islamic to teach an integrated Islamic curriculum since 2008.[14]

Higher education in Sri Lanka has been based on the many prominent pirivenas during the pre colonial times. The origins of the modern colonial university system in Sri Lanka dates back to 1921 when a University College, the Ceylon University College was established at the former premises of Royal College Colombo affiliated to the University of London. However, the beginning of modern higher education in colonial government of Ceylon was in 1870 when the Ceylon Medical School[15] was established followed by Colombo Law College (1875),[16] School of Agriculture (1884) and the Government Technical College (1893).

Sri Jayewardenepura University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Building

The University of Ceylon was established on 1 July 1942 by the Ceylon University Ordinance No. 20 of 1942 which was to be unitary, residential and autonomous. The university was in Colombo. Several years later a second campus was built in Peradeniya. The University of Ceylon became the University of Sri Lanka follow in the University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972 resulting in a more centralized administration and more direct government control. This gave way for creation of separate universities after the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978. Even though new universities of independent identities were created, the government maintained its direct control and centralized administration though the University Grants Commission. Late Hon. Lalith Athulathmudali as Minister of Education developed an initiative to develop the higher education of the country in the 1980s, the Mahapola Fund, established by him provided scholarship and much-needed founding to higher education institution to this day. Until amendments to the University Act were made in 1999 only state universities were allowed to grant undergraduate degrees; this has since changed.

School Girls of Jaffna Hindu Ladies' College

Sri Lanka's education structure is divided into five parts: primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, collegiate, and tertiary. Primary education lasts five years (Grade 1 to Grade 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, therefore the GCE A/Ls is the university entrance exam in Sri Lanka.[17]

• Kindergarten: 3-5 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

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

• Grade 12: 16-17 year olds
• Grade 13: 17-18 year olds - G.C.E Advanced Level Examination

Vincent Girls' High School Batticaloa

NB: In some cases, students may be slightly younger.

Most of the schools in Sri Lanka are maintained by the government as a part of the free education. Currently (as of 2021) there are 10,155 government schools (373 national schools and 9,782 provincial schools)[18] with a student population of 4.2 million and 235,924 teachers, 736 Pirivenas and also 104 private schools with 127,968 students. With the establishment if the provincial council system in the 1980s the central government handed control of most schools to local governments. However the old schools which had been around since the colonial times were retained by the central government, this creating three types of government schools;

• National Schools
• Provincial Schools
• Pirivenas-Schools for Buddhist priests

Main Building of St. Michael's College National School. It is an example for national schools in Sri Lanka

Iconic Buddhist Vihara at Ananda college. One of the leading national schools in Colombo

National schools come under the direct control of the Ministry of Education and therefore have direct funding from the ministry. Most of these schools were established during the colonial period and therefore are established institutions. These few are referred to as famous schools or elite schools since they have a rich history and better maintained facilities than the average public school. This is mainly due to the support of their alumni. In recent 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 373 (as of 2021).[17][18]

Provincial Schools consists of the vast majority of schools in Sri Lanka, which number 9,782 (as of 2021).[18] Funded and controlled by the local governments many suffer from poor facilities and a shortage of teachers.

Piriven are monastic colleges (similar to a seminary) for the education of Buddhist priests. These have been the centers of secondary and higher education in ancient times for lay people as well. Today 561 Piriven are funded and maintained by the Ministry of Education under the Pirivena Education Act, No, 64 of 1979. Young priests undergo training at these pirivenas prior to being their Ordination and study for GCE O/L and A/L examinations. They may gain entrance to State Universities for higher religious studies.

C.M.S Ladies College one of Sri Lanka's private girls' school as seen from its grounds

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, 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.[17]

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),[17] due to this the standard of education varies greatly between 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 (IGCSE) 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 it is less popular. Both exams are offered under the supervision of the British Council, whereas some schools offer a direct partnership with the examination body in order to improve standards.

As of 2013, there are 205 madrasas registered under the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs providing Islamic education in Sri Lanka.[19] These have been built and maintained by independent Islamic foundations such as All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and the Thareeqathul Aroosiyyathil Qaadhiriyyah Association in Sri Lanka which propagate Sunnah wal Jamaah.[20] This is in addition to the 749 Muslim Schools in Sri Lanka.

There are quite a few semi-government schools in Sri Lanka that are run as a government-private collaboration, where the government provides the textbooks, uniforms, and other facilities such as the ability to sit for national exams and the government-paid teachers.

The prominent semi-government schools are Zahira College, Colombo, Wesley College, Colombo, St. Joseph's College, Colombo and St. Peter's College, Colombo.

In 2011, the government made it mandatory for all students selected for undergraduate courses in state universities to undergo Compulsory leadership training for undergraduates at military and police bases. The government sited the need for residential three-week training to increase employability thus reducing the high graduate unemployment in state universities. This move has drawn criticisms from the opposition, student groups and human rights groups as the nature of compulsory military type training seen in conscription.[29][30][31] However, shortly after the 2015 presidential election, the president at the time, Maithripala Sirisena along with the Sri Lankan Parliament put an end to this training in 2015.[32]