Sri Lanka

Basic Data
Official Country Name:	Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Region:	East & South Asia
Population:	19,238,575
Language(s):	Sinhala, Tamil, English
Literacy Rate:	90.2%
Academic Year:	January-December
Number of Primary Schools:	9,554
Compulsory Schooling:	9 years
Public Expenditure on Education:	3.4%
Foreign Students in National Universities:	55
Educational Enrollment:	Primary: 1,843,848
	Secondary: 2,314,054
	Higher: 63,660
Educational EnrollmentRate:	Primary: 109%
	Secondary: 75%
Teachers:	Primary: 66,339
	Secondary: 103,572
	Higher: 2,636
Student-Teacher Ratio:	Primary: 28:1
	Secondary: 22:1
Female Enrollment Rate:	Primary: 108%
	Secondary: 78%

History & Background

Historical Evolution: The history of Sri Lanka before 1500 C.E., as recorded in its Great Chronicles, is considered unverifiable and is largely an obscure, confusing, and conflicting set of records about wars, invasions, usurpations, and dynastic rivalries. Beginning with the thirteenth century C.E., Sri Lanka was divided into three major kingdoms: a Tamil kingdom in the north, a Sinhalese kingdom in the southwest, and the kingdom of Kandy in the interior. In 1505, the Portuguese came to the island and established settlements on the west and south coasts. Despite Portuguese efforts to subjugate the entire island, the Kandyan kingdom remained independent. In 1612, the king of Kandy formed an alliance with the Dutch, successfully defeating and dislodging the Portuguese by 1656. Unfortunately, in removing the Portuguese, Kandy traded one European colonial master for another. Sri Lanka was subservient to Dutch interests for over a century and a half. British trading interests in Sri Lanka led to the ouster of the Dutch in 1796. The 1815 unification of the island's three kingdoms under British rule continued until 1948, when Great Britain granted Sri Lanka its independence.

Ethnically, Sri Lanka's population is divided among Sinhalese (74 percent), Tamils (18 percent), Moors (7 percent), and Burghers, Malays, and Veddas (1 percent). Most of the people of Sri Lanka migrated to the island from India more than 2,500 years ago, often in the interest of trade, war, religion, economic opportunity, or colonization. The Sinhalese are allegedly the descendants of the Aryan Prince Vijaya, from India, and his 700 followers; they came to Sri Lanka about 485 B.C.E., chased from their homes for their marauding activities. Tamils fall into two groups: Sri Lankan and Indian. The Sri Lankan Tamils came to the island in the third century B.C.E., moving across the strait from India as part of the expansion by India's southern kings. The majority of Indian Tamils were imported by the British to work on the coffee and tea plantations in the island's interior during the second half of the nineteenth century. A few Indian Tamils came as traders. The Moors, or Muslims, came to Sri Lanka in the eighth century C.E., and are descendants of Arab traders. The Burghers are descendants of marriages contracted between Portuguese and Dutch settlers, or between the Europeans and the Sinhalese or Tamils. The Dutch brought over Malays as soldiers, and the Veddas are the aboriginal forest dwellers of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's history left the island with a diverse population composed of self-conscious ethnic groups, differentiated by religion, language, and social customs. Hinduism, the island's first religion, came from India during its era of unrecorded history and is the faith of Sri Lanka's largest minority group, the Tamils. Theravada Buddhism was introduced from India during the third century B.C.E. and is the religion of the island's Sinhalese majority. Arab traders and western colonists brought Islam and Christianity in the tenth and sixteenth centuries C.E., respectively. In the modern era, Buddhists constitute 69 percent of the population, Hindus 15 percent, Christians 8 percent, and Muslims 8 percent.

Sri Lanka's commitment to education began more than 2,500 hundred years ago, when Hindu kings and chieftains received their education from Brahmins (Hindu priests), and education is thus closely tied to the religious history of the island. Similarly, early in Sri Lanka's history, education became associated with high caste status and privilege. The sweep of Buddhism from India into Sri Lanka in the third century B.C.E. converted kings and people. Monasteries were erected to educate bhikkus, or monks. These monks built the first pirivenas, or temple schools, in the villages, educating the laity in religion and secular subjects. Little information exists on the schools of Sri Lanka's minority populations of Hindus and Muslims, but it is generally assumed that each faith had temple and mosque schools, respectively, which provided an elementary education with emphasis on religion, reading, and writing.

Portuguese rule of Sri Lanka brought both Franciscans and Jesuits, who founded 41 parish schools, and three Franciscan and two Jesuit colleges. Converting the island's diverse population was a primary focus of this educational mission. The Dutch, who followed the Portuguese, replaced the Catholic parish schools with schools affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. Both the Portuguese and the Dutch used religious conversion to promote access to educational opportunity. Native Sri Lankans quickly realized that if they wanted to gain a public office or qualify as a schoolmaster, they had to convert to the Dutch Reformed faith, and did. A Dutch seminary in Colombo, the capital, provided additional higher education. The Dutch educational system in Sri Lanka continued to foster the public's perception of a link between education and financial success.

When the British began their occupation of Sri Lanka, they gave responsibility for the island's education to Christian missionary societies who promoted an English, western-oriented education designed to "civilize" the Sri Lankan people. English schools charged fees and received British government grants. The island's nonEnglish vernacular (secular) schools were taught in Sinhala or Tamil, Sri Lanka's two principal languages. Vernacular schools were traditionally under financed because they were denied government educational grants. Without government subsidies, these schools could offer only the basics of an elementary education. Buddhist temple schools, primarily in rural areas, suffered the most: in addition to being denied government funding, they could not charge fees, the result of successful lobbying by the missionary societies who wanted the elimination of any rival religious schools. Under British rule, Sri Lankans who spoke English were eligible to become teachers. Colonial administrators only recruited only English-speaking Sri Lankans for government service. Thus the Sri Lankans who prospered under British colonial rule were more likely to be better-educated, high-caste Hindu Tamils, Tamils who converted to Christianity and were educated in English schools, or descendants of the Burghers.

Christians, the island's smallest minority, were historically the best educated. In 1901, approximately 55 percent of Christian males were literate, compared to only 35 percent of Buddhist males, 34 percent of Muslim males, and 26 percent of Hindu males. Among Christian women, 30 percent were literate, compared to 5 percent among Buddhist women, 3 percent among Muslim women, and 2.5 percent among Hindu women. The lower literacy rates among Hindu males can be attributed to the inclusion of the uneducated and stateless imported Indian Tamil males who worked tea plantations. Cultural factors account for the low literacy rates among Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu women. By 1921, within just 20 years, literacy rates among the island's male population rose to 66 percent for Christians, 50 percent for Buddhists, 45 percent for Muslims, and 37 percent for Hindus. For women, 50 percent of Christians were literate, while literacy rates among Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu women rose to 17 percent, 6 percent, and 10 percent, respectively. When independence was granted in 1948, Sri Lanka had 5,895 schools enrolling more than 1 million students. The nation's literacy rate was 57.8 percent, the highest among both Great Britain's colonies and Asian nations. Independence did not eliminate a colonial perception among the majority of Sinhalese that British rule had favored an English-speaking Tamil minority who benefited from better education, which led to higher incomes and more valuable careers.

Political, Social, & Cultural Bases: For centuries Sri Lankan Tamils used education to promote their social mobility. The Tamil region in northern and eastern Sri Lanka is arid and infertile compared to the rest of the island and is unsuitable for profitable farming. The Tamils depended on education to prosper. Under British rule the Tamil minority received a disproportionate share of university and government positions. Higher earnings among Sri Lankan Tamils plus the income sent home by overseas Tamils generated greater economic prosperity in the Tamil regions than in the rest of the country.

Independence changed the balance of power. Two major political parties formed—the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP)—and both political parties competed for the vote of the Sinhalese majority. The parties promoted Buddhism, nationalism, socialism, and non-alignment in the Cold War era, with little thought for Tamil issues. From independence until 1956, the more conservative UNP, advocating a mixed economy and private enterprise, maintained a parliamentary majority. However, during the 1956 election, SLFP leader S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike encouraged xenophobic fears among the Sinhalese majority, allying himself with Marxist parties advocating the nationalization of banks and industry and Sinhalese Buddhist extremists who wanted to replace English with Sinhala as Sri Lanka's official language. After Bandaranaike won the parliamentary elections of 1956, the SLFP approved the change of language, and established quotas limiting Tamil entry into government service and higher education, particularly in the fields of medicine and the sciences. The number of Tamil students admitted to medical school and engineering schools fell by 50 percent and 67 percent, respectively. Tamil recruitment by the central government in the general clerical services fell from a 41 percent high in 1949 to a mere 7 percent among recruits nationally in 1963. Less than 5 percent of Tamils were in the nation's police force and national army. By the 1970s, only 6 percent of newly hired teachers were Tamil, and university placement for Tamils in the science-based disciplines fell to 11 percent in 1974 from 35 percent just four years earlier.

Tamils organized to protect their interests, and extremist factions of all parties and nationalities employed violence to bring national attention to their concerns. The violence temporarily ended in 1959, when Prime Minister Bandaranaike was assassinated. During the 1960s and 1970s both the UNP and the SLFP competed with each other for a parliamentary majority among the Sinhalese. Consistently, Tamil interests were again ignored or forgotten by the central government and the politicians. In 1972, the Sinhalese majority voted to end its status as a monarchy, which had come to represent Sri Lanka's colonial past. The Constitution of Sri Lanka was substantially revised, and parliamentary government was replaced with a presidential republic dominated by a Buddhist, Sinhalese majority. President J.R. Jayewardene was elected in 1978; the Jayewardene administration continued reforms tending toward reconciliation of Sri Lanka's warring factions.

The civil war has persisted into the twenty-first century, fought primarily in the Tamil regions of eastern and northern Sri Lanka, but Tamil guerrillas have brought the war to all parts of the country. President Jayewardene's attempts to grant Tamil autonomy under Indian supervision caused great fear among the Sinhalese majority of the nation's impending division and permanent Indian occupation. Later Sri Lankan presidents accepted Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's offer to mediate the dispute between Tamils and Sinhalese. Gandhi's efforts ended tragically with his assassination in 1991, by Tamils opposed to Gandhi's use of Indian troops to suppress the Tamil insurrection in Sri Lanka. Two years later in 1993, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated five years into his presidency when he proposed substantial grants of autonomy in Tamil areas. Although blamed, the Tamil rebels rejected responsibility for his death.

Chandrika Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka since 1993 and the daughter of a previous prime minister and president, both named Bandaranaike, has scaled back many oppressive and discriminatory aspects of education and language laws that precipitated the civil war. Surprisingly, the university system in the Tamil region remains open and funded by the central government while Sinhalese universities suffer from Tamil insurgency. Long-term peace in Sri Lanka depends on the creation of a pluralistic and multiethnic nation. Proposals of the Kumaratunga government bear a striking similarity to the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact of 1957, which proposed that Sri Lanka be a multiethnic state with Tamil as a national language in the northern and eastern sections of the country. The government would provide full protection for non-Tamil speakers and regional councils were permitted authority over centralized political system favoring the majority. Locally elected leaders could administer land development projects.

In December, 1999, as President Kumaratunga prepared to begin a second term of office, she barely survived an attempted assassination, and she did lose an eye. Her reelection came with 51.2 percent of the vote, the lowest percentage in the nation's history, and a realization that Sri Lankans were discouraged with politics. The assassination attempt increased President Kumaratunga's resolve to institute national reforms.

Constitution & Legal Foundations

In 1931, the British government granted universal manhood suffrage to Sri Lankans. Within 10 years of getting the franchise, Sri Lanka passed legislation granting free and compulsory education throughout the island for all ethnic and religious groups. British intent was to unify Sri Lanka's diverse population by fostering a British parliamentary-style government, educational system, and independent judiciary. The island's linguistic divisions were overcome by legislation making English Sri Lanka's official language, with Sinhala and Tamil as national languages.

Along with the constitutional reforms of the 1970s, Sri Lanka began the first of many national studies to determine the manner educational reform should take to promote national reconciliation and reduce minority claims of discrimination. President Jayewardene made Tamil the official language for the administration and courts of the Tamil regions in the north and east. The Jayewardene government also worked to establish scholarship programs for the urban poor and among rural children and authorized new technical curricula in secondary schools. Government policy encouraged the construction of new facilities in engineering, medicine, and science to serve the countryside. Section 22 of the Sri Lankan Constitution entitled each Sri Lankan the right to be educated in either Sinhala or Tamil, although central government appointments still required fluency in Sinhala. In spite of a disruptive civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese, educational reforms were instituted by the central government.

Because of civil war, Sri Lanka has faced serious funding shortages and a lack of books and equipment, and qualified teachers. The nation's central education ministry has been charged with being too autocratic and insensitive to regional and minority demands, while minorities have accused the education system of discrimination in funding, admissions, and curriculum majors. President Kumaratunga made 1997 the "year of education reforms and restructure" and promised to implement educational reforms in 1998. These reforms showcased improvement in the quality of primary and secondary education, increased career guidance programs, expansion and diversification of the university curricula, and increased vocational and technical training for rural youth and women.

Educational System—Overview

In 1999, the Sri Lankan government recorded a total student population for both primary and secondary education of approximately 4.3 million students attending a total of 11,031 schools. Student enrollments are distributed among 10,394 government schools, 306 national schools, 77 private schools, 560 pirivenas, and 637 schools of other affiliations. International schools find increasing favor with wealthier families, but statistical data is unavailable on this educational choice. The student teacher ratio in 1999 was 22 students for each teacher, a decline of one student since 1990. The majority of teachers (60 percent) are trained, and 27 percent are graduate teachers. The remaining teaching staff consists of certified teachers, uncertified teachers, and volunteer teachers.

During the 1990s, in spite of ongoing civil war, the people of Sri Lanka witnessed a steady increase in the number of primary and secondary schools of all types, except private schools. This was coupled with a steady increase in literacy among Sri Lanka's school-age population. Private schools declined by two during the period 1995 to 1999, although at 77 the number of private schools was still higher than the 61 private schools in 1990. The number of teachers at both the primary and secondary levels increased from a total faculty of 184,822 in 1990 to 196,726 in 1999. Government expenditures for primary and secondary education increased from approximately 9.6 million rupees in 1990 to approximately 29.3 million rupees in 1999.

Preprimary & Primary Education

Preprimary education is voluntary and entirely private. Most of the schools are in urban areas. Primary education includes grades one to five. It is free but, by tradition, was not compulsory until 1999, when the Sri Lankan government established new regulations making primary education compulsory as part of a reform program. An estimated 14 percent of children ages 5 to 10 years were not attending school. Village committees are now empowered with the authority to raise and monitor school attendance. Public awareness programs are being carried out to encourage educational attendance. The most recent statistics indicate that 90 percent of Sri Lankan children are enrolled in primary education.

The curriculum for the first three years of primary education includes religion, the mother tongue, English, and numbers. In grade four the same subjects are continued and physical education, constructive activities, and environmental studies added. The goal of primary education is to promote a useful role in the local community.

Secondary Education

Junior secondary education covers grades six to eight. The curriculum consists of 10 compulsory subjects including English and science. Technical and prevocational studies constitute 20 percent of the curriculum. Examinations in the mother tongue and mathematics are taken to establish eligibility for senior secondary education. Students must pass four other examinations from among English, science, religion, social studies, aesthetic studies, health and physical education, or technical subjects. Satisfactory passes in 'O' level are required to enter senior secondary school. Students may need to repeat the last year of junior secondary in order to achieve entry to senior secondary.

Senior secondary education begins at grade nine. Five curriculum areas are available for students: physical sciences, biological sciences, social studies, humanities, and commerce. Specialist curricula are designed to groom students for university entrance requirements. This course of study lasts two years and leads to the Sri Lanka General Certificate of Education (A/L) examination for university entrance. Only one out of every 100 students is accepted into a Sri Lankan university after 12 to 14 years of education.

Reforms at the junior secondary stage were implemented in 1999 for grades six to nine. New syllabi were developed and textbooks rewritten. The number of subjects required by students planning to qualify for the GCE (A/L) examination was reduced from four to three subject areas of study. A Common General Paper, designed for testing students' awareness of current affairs, reasoning ability, problems solving ability and communication skills, became a required part of the GCE (A/L) examination. A compulsory new course on general English was introduced for GCE (A/L) students, although the scores will not be added to the aggregate marks for university entrance. In addition, the government has offered a one-year pre-university course of instruction to improve entrance prospects for those from poorer, particularly Tamil, regions of the country. Other educational reforms at the secondary level include a program to develop better school facilities at divisional levels for disadvantaged groups, particularly rural children. A total of 325 existing schools have been designated for maintenance improvement, better teacher-training programs, and human resource development.

Higher Education

General Survey: Sri Lanka's university system is financed by the central government. Its Board of Governors includes the Vice-Chancellor; the Ministers of Education, Planning, and Finance; and the presidents of all the university campuses. The Board reviews the internal administration of the university system. University senates govern academic affairs, and a university president and board supervise each campus.

At the time of independence, the Ceylon Medical College, the Ceylon University College, and the science section of the Ceylon Technical College were merged to form the University of Ceylon (later the University of Sri Lanka). To accommodate the national requirements for increased education after the primary and secondary levels, however, new universities became necessary. A rapidly expanding population demanding higher educational opportunities led to the additional construction of university campuses at Peradeniya, Vidalankara, and Vidyodaya. These schools offer majors in languages, art, and Buddhist studies. A building campaign in the 1970s added new universities at Colombo, Katubedde, and Jaffna. The latter university was the first one in a Tamil region of Sri Lanka. In 1980, the Open University was added, along with two new universities at Ruhnne and Batticaloa. Curriculum emphasis is undergraduate education. Technical and teacher-training institutes were built to foster specialized training. In 1999, Sri Lanka added a university at Wayamba, which enrolls 11,324 students, or about 15 percent of the students who meet the minimum requirements for university entrance and 8 percent of the number of students who passed the GCE (A/L) examinations.

Tamils' complaints of preferential treatment in university placement to lower-scoring Sinahalese ended in the 1980s, when more places became available in an expanding higher education program. Tamils received increased opportunities to enter degree programs in general teacher training colleges for primary teacher training and specialist teacher training colleges for secondary teacher training, in addition to university programs leading education degrees, university programs culminating in the Ph.D., and degree programs at a polytechnic or technical institute. Among university admissions into degree programs in the arts, commerce and management, law, physical science, mathematics and statistics, bioscience, medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, agriculture, engineering, architecture, and quantity surveying, 40 percent of acceptances are based exclusively on merit. District quotas select 55 percent of university applicants, and the remaining 5 percent of university entrants are admitted on the basis of educational disadvantages by district.

Competition for graduate degree programs in one of Sri Lanka's six post-graduate institutes has intensified. Five higher education institutes, the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, Institute of Computer Technology, Institute of Indigenous Medicine, Campaha Wickramarachchi Aayurveda Institute, and the Institute of Workers' Education, provide additional higher education options. The Open University of Sri Lanka enrolled an additional 18,495 students in 1999, offering 10 degree programs and 31 diplomas. Private institutes in cooperation with foreign universities offer higher education programs in the fields of information technology, commerce, and business administration. The University Grants Commission and Sri Lanka universities offered scholarships to 5,700 students in 1999. Students not eligible for scholarships received limited funding from government bursaries.

Enrollment: During the 1990s, the number of universities in Sri Lanka increased from 9 universities enrolling 29,471 students with a teaching faculty of 2,040 in 1990 to 13 universities in 1999 matriculating 40,174 students with a teaching staff of 3,200. These data do not include higher education enrollments for the Open University. The number of university graduates increased from 4,522 students in 1990 to 6,758 students in 1998. For the year 1998, the 6,758 university graduates included 2,518 in arts and oriental studies, 1,180 in commerce and management, 171 in law, 1,110 in science, 551 in engineering, 812 in medicine, 42 in dental surgery, 250 in agriculture, 50 in veterinary science, 25 in architecture, and 49 in quantity surveying. All degree majors witnessed steady increases in graduates since 1990, except architecture, which demonstrated a steady decline during the 1990s.

Educational Reform: Government-directed university reforms focus on the expansion of the university system, curriculum reform, quality assurance, staff development, career guidance, counseling, and finance. All Sri Lankan universities have initiated action to reform existing curricula to accommodate a modular course unit system, which provides students with greater flexibility in selecting degree programs and individual courses. Continuous assessment will replace the final examination system traditionally used to evaluate academic progress. New academic faculty at the university level will be required to attend an induction course at staff development centers established at the Universities of Colombo, Peradeniya, Kelaniya, Jaffna, Sabaragamuwa, and Sri Jayawardanapura. Six universities have already set up Career Guidance Units to link potential graduates with private-sector careers. The Sri Lankan government plans to increase the number of dormitories on university campuses to accommodate up to 75 percent of the student population.

Even though the central government is responsible for review of the university system, the adoption of reforms and the pace of reform are left to the individual school. Students are required to accept the reforms. The government is intent on improving the overall quality of the higher education system. In particular, the government plans to increase the number of university-industry links, with the hope of intensifying the study of advanced applied research with foreign universities, in order to challenge both the teaching staff and the students. An increased number of student exchange programs are being offered to expose students to university programs in other countries.

Technical Education & Vocational Training: Technical and vocational education includes the fields of engineering, commerce, business studies, and agriculture. Prevocational programs at the secondary level of education are designed to train students for acceptance into higher education in the above-identified fields. The number of technical institutes has increased to 20. Minimum age for admission is 17 years. Diploma and certificate courses from one to four years qualify graduates to certificates from craftsman to technician. Admission to these advanced programs requires the completion of the Higher National Certificate of Education or the GCE (A/L). Engineering, commerce, and business degree programs are offered at Sri Lanka's polytechnic institutes.

Recognizing the increased demand for graduates in technical and vocational fields, the government of Sri Lanka approved the creation of the Tertiary and Vocation Education Commission to prepare and publish plans for five priority industry sectors: gems and jewelry, construction, printing, textiles and garments, and hotel and tourism. Government funds were allocated to promote skill training at private sector industrial establishments at 33 locations. The Department of Technical Education and Training, a major provider of technical education and vocational training, increased its services to 36 technical colleges enrolling 16,170 students in 1999. The Sri Lankan Institute of Advanced Technical Education conducted higher-level courses in engineering, accounting, commerce, and agriculture for an additional 2,839 students. In rural areas the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) enrolled 21,092 students in different curricula programs.

It is expected that the VTA will expand its training facilities to 36 new sites and establish 6 new special vocational training centers. An additional 20,118 students were enrolled in the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority, studying over 180 courses. The National Institute of Technical Education was re-established in 1999 as an autonomous institute to effect teacher training and curriculum development in the technical and vocational fields. Over the next five years development funds from foreign governments will increase technical and vocational skill-development programs of study among the nation's population. The government of Sri Lanka intends to encourage the private sector to do more in the education and training of students in vocational fields.

Administration, Finance, & Educational Research

Ministry of Education: In 1978, the Ministry of Education was divided into a Ministry of Education and a Ministry for Higher Education. The former agency oversaw elementary and secondary education. In 1979, a Ministry of Education Services was created to provide books and materials and to review the condition of school facilities. The promotion and recruitment of teachers was assigned to the Public Science Commission. The Minister of Education is appointed by the president of Sri Lanka, is a member of the presidential cabinet, and is assisted by three Deputy Director-Generals of Education, each responsible for school organization, curriculum development and teacher education, or planning. The island is divided into 15 regions, each with a regional director with authority for school construction, maintenance, repair, and teacher supervision. The regional director recruits the teachers, assigns them to schools, and arranges transfers.

Funding & Support: Foreign governments and agencies provide needed additional funding to further improvements in the Sri Lanka educational system. The World Bank funds teacher education and teacher deployment projects to improve teacher quality and make education more widely available to the general population. The Secondary Education Development Act funded the renewal of 178 secondary schools and 14 newly established teacher-training colleges, consultancy services for curriculum development, and a new building complex to house the Department of Examinations. The Japanese government funded development work on 12 new junior secondary schools, while the United Kingdom, under the Department for International Development, continues to fund primary mathematics, primary English, and primary education planning projects.

Under the Development of Schools by Divisions Project, 393 schools were refurbished, and under the National Schools Development Project, 185 new school buildings were constructed. Provincial councils provided money to support the educational infrastructure in their areas. Government money was allocated for free school uniforms and textbooks. Recognizing the importance of computer technology, 1,795 computers and 601 printers were distributed among 601 schools in 1999. Twelve computer resource centers were set up in selected schools in the same year. The government's 2002 budget has proposed special incentives to set up 50 institutes for information technology. All institutes would be connected to the information technology parks at Malambe, Kesbew, and Pugoda. The private sector contributes to Sri Lanka's general education system by funding private schools, international schools, private tutories, and private preschools.

Research & Reform: Even though preschools are under the jurisdiction of provincial councils, the central government plans to establish policies that will regularize the education being offered throughout the nation on the basis of curricula and teacher training. To facilitate this effort, the Open University has established a Child Study Center to undertake research in early childhood and development and to improve teacher training for preschool teachers. The Sri Lankan government, in spite of continued domestic distress, is making every effort to educate parents and students about educational reforms, the availability and fair distribution of resources, and the provision of teaching material at primary and secondary levels. The Ministries of Education and Higher Education are developing an incentive program to encourage teachers to work in less advantaged areas among the urban poor and the rural regions of the country to extend education to all Sri Lankan children.

Teaching Profession

Additional education reforms include improved teacher education programs of study. There are 12,000 untrained teachers in the educational system. A distancelearning program is in place with 9,625 teachers enrolled. The remaining untrained teachers will be sent to teachers' colleges. The government has set the year 2002 as a deadline for achieving a completely trained teaching faculty. There will be no further recruitment of untrained teachers. The National Colleges of Education have been designated to train all new teachers. There will be 84 Teacher Centers, 72 of which had been established by 1999 with money provided by the World Bank under the Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project. Renewal courses, as part of teacher in-service training, were extended to 30,704 educators.

Summary

The civil war in Sri Lanka has affected every aspect of the nation's development. Since the war began in 1983, over 800,000 people, primarily Tamils, have become refugees, and over 62,000 Sri Lankans have lost their lives. There are five Tamil guerrilla groups; the most feared are the Liberation Tiger of Tiger Eelam. Peace mediation efforts by India failed in the 1980s. Norway has offered mediation in the 1990s. It is evident that not all Tamils want an independent Tamil state, but guerrilla warfare has coerced into service those Tamils who would prefer peaceful compromise leading to increased autonomy. Under the leadership of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, many of the oppressive and discriminatory aspects of education and the language laws that contributed to the civil war have been scaled back. The university system in the Tamil region remains open and funded by the central government, even as many Sinhalese universities have suffered from Tamil insurgency.

Long-term peace in Sri Lanka will require the creation of political, legal, educational, and cultural institutions that will foster a pluralistic and multiethnic environment. The Report of the Presidential Commission on Youth (1990) could be a bridge to resolving educational issues. Among the commission's recommendations:

• Bilingualism should extend throughout Sri Lankan society.
• Tamils and Sinhalese should learn each other's languages.
• Textbooks and educational materials should be available in both Tamil and Sinhalese, and should be inspected and periodically reviewed for any traces of cultural bias and favoritism.
• Students need to be introduced to the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka's other religious and ethnic groups.
• The public media should be more ethnically sensitive, with television and radio programs catering to a multiethnic society.
• Subtitles should be provided in film and television.
• Joint radio programs should be broadcast in both Sinhala and Tamil.
• Print media should be given the responsibility to promote multicultural awareness.

In spite of the civil war more students are being educated, the number of schools and teachers is increasing, the student to teacher ratio has improved, and national literacy has increased. Tamil overtures for peace in 2000 and 2001 and a reduction in armed conflict offer encouragement that an improved future awaits all the people of Sri Lanka. Education reform is an essential component to solving and ending the civil war.

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—William A. Paquette