Sri Lanka's Learning Crisis

Abstract

While countries across the world have made significant headway in enrolling children in school, progress in ensuring that these children actually learn and acquire much needed skills - which is what truly builds human capital - is far less impressive, thus constituting a 'learning crisis'. Sri Lanka has been a notable overachiever in education in the developing world. However, disparities in performance levels by school type, location, gender and medium of instruction are significant. Moreover, learning outcomes at higher levels of education are weaker, and disparities are wider.