Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
With a literacy rate of 92%, and 83% of the total population having
had Secondary Education,[67] Sri Lanka has one of the most literate
populations amongst developing nations.[68] An education system which
dictates 9 years of Compulsory Schooling for every child is in place,
with 99% of the children entering the first grade.[67] A free education
system initiated in 1945[69] by Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara, a former
minister of education, has greatly contributed to this.
Dr. Kannangara led the establishment of the Madhya Maha Vidyalayas
(Central Schools) in different parts of the country in order to provide
education to Sri Lanka's rural population. In 1942 a special education
committee proposed extensive reforms to establish an efficient and
quality education system for the people. However in the 1980s changers
to this system saw the separation the of administration of schools
between the central government and the provincial government. Thus the
elite National Schools are controlled directly by the Ministry of
Education and the provincial schools by the provincial government.
See also: List of schools in Sri Lanka and Universities in Sri Lanka
Most schools in Sri Lanka provide education from grades 1 to 13 in
the same institution. Students sit for the GCE Ordinary Level
Examination (O/Levels) in grade 11 and the GCE Advanced Level
Examination (A/levels) in grade 13, conducted by the Department of
Examinations. These schools are modelled on British colleges. A majority
of them are public, but a number of private schools do exist. While
most reputed National and Private Schools centred around large cities
are usually single-sex institutions, rural provincial schools tend to be
coeducational.
In recent decades, a large number of international schools have
been established across the nation. In these schools General Certificate
of Secondary Education, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge
International Examinations are popular education programs. Many of the
schools offer subjects in Sinhala and Tamil languages with regionally
leading schools offering subjects in English medium also.
Sri Lanka has around 16 public universities. They include the
University of Colombo, the University of Peradeniya, the University of
Kelaniya, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the University of
Moratuwa, the University of Jaffna, the University of Ruhuna, the
Eastern University of Sri Lanka, the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri
Lanka and the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.
However the lack of space in these institutions and the
unwillingness to establish private universities has led to a large
number of students been denied entry into formal universities as well as
high undergraduate unemployment. As a result, a number of public and
private institutions have emerged, which provide specialised education
in a variety of fields, such as computer science, business
administration and law. These include the government owned Sri Lanka
Institute of Information Technology and the Institute of Technological
Studies. The free education system ensures that primary to tertiary
education is provided free of charge to its citizens.
|
