Private schooling could ease capacity constraints at Sri Lankan universities

The Sri Lankan government has made a concerted effort to develop the education sector in recent years, seeing this as fundamental to its overall push to become an upper-middle-income country.

This effort includes increased public spending, institutional and curricular reform and expansion, and the redevelopment of the foundations of the education system as a whole. At the same time, the government is stepping up outreach efforts to encourage more students to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and to develop forward-looking IT skills.

Yet, despite its commitment to free education and gross enrolment ratios (GERs) – or the share the of school-eligible population officially participating in a given level of education – at primary and secondary levels of 102% and 98% in 2016, Sri Lanka’s productivity still lags behind its potential, owing in large part to outstanding educational deficits. The World Bank’s human capital index, which measures the contributions of health care and education to the productivity of future generations, estimated that, over the course of their lifetimes, Sri Lankans born in 2017 will earn only 58% of the income that they would under circumstances where they had access to adequate schooling and medical services, other factors being equal. It ranked 74th of 157 assessed countries – higher than predicted by its median income – and was the leading country in South Asia.

The government has been historically reluctant to open the sector to for-profit businesses. However, as increasing numbers of high school graduates find themselves unable to matriculate in public universities because of capacity issues, private providers may find it easier to make inroads into the market, especially at the tertiary and vocational levels.

Structure & Oversight

The regulation and administration of the country’s education sector are carried out by a collection of central governmental entities led by the Ministry of Education (MoE); the newly reorganised Ministry of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education (MoHE); the National Institute of Education (NIE); the National Education Commission (NEC); and the University Grants Commission (UGC). Provincial schools fall under the decentralised control of the nine provincial councils, with each autonomous provincial system governed by a designated minister of education.

The public education system takes its general form from the academic qualification model followed in the UK, with secondary students sitting for a General Certificate of Education examination at the Ordinary Level (O Level) at the age of 16 and the Advanced Level (A Level) two years later. The model is tailored to Sri Lanka’s particular needs, such as emphases on vocational and STEM training, which have become important parts of ongoing efforts to hone the country’s reputation as a centre of learning excellence in South Asia. Education is compulsory until the age of 16, and instruction is given in Sinhalese, Tamil or English, with the mix of languages varying by year, region, school type and education level.

The MoE also oversees more than 750 pirivenas, or colleges for the training of Buddhist monks. Nearly 60,000 students studied in these centres under the instruction of roughly 6000 teachers in 2017.

The foundations of the university system were laid in 1921, when Ceylon University College was established in affiliation with the University of London. Sri Lanka is now home to 15 state universities, with the University of Colombo widely considered the most prestigious among them.

Education Policy

All citizens are afforded the right to a free education under the Sri Lankan constitution. The efficacy of this legal guarantee of schooling is borne out by the country’s high rate of educational attainment in comparison with those of its regional neighbours: its 92% literacy rate is the highest in South Asia and among the highest across the entire continent overall.

The UGC was established by the Universities Act in 1978 to coordinate the university system and regulate the funding, academic standards, administration and student admission of higher educational institutions (HEIs). The commission has allowed independent tertiary groups to offer schooling under certain restrictions, and amendments to the Universities Act have permitted some of these schools – the stateowned Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) being the best-known among them – to commence offering degree-granting programmes.

Under Vision 2025, which outlines reforms to make Sri Lankan producers more internationally competitive and drive more regionally inclusive growth, a second phase of reform is under way. When implemented, the change will provide 13 years of compulsory education without respect to success or failure of the O Level examination and will enable students to pursue A Level coursework under vocational or professional subject streams.

Budget

Government spending on education is relatively low. In 2015 it reached just 2% of GDP, before rising to 3.5% in 2016, according to statistics from the World Bank. Although this change was indicative of a positive trend, Malaysia and the Maldives, Sri Lanka’s closest geographical neighbours and economic peers, respectively spent 4.8% and 4.3% of GDP on education in 2016.

Finalised statistics for 2018 were not available as of early February 2019, but the National Human Resources Development Council (NHRDC), a public body under the Ministry of Vocational Training and Skills Development, proposed a 23% increase in education spending to LKR464bn ($2.9bn) in 2019, up from a provisional LKR377bn ($2.4bn) outlay in 2018, to be followed by an additional increase of 16% to LKR539bn ($3.4bn) in 2020. The 2019 budget is expected to be presented to the Parliament in March and passed in April, before the Sinhalese New Year.

Primary

Students in Sri Lanka receive five years of compulsory primary school education, which runs from grades 1 to 5 (ages 6-11). The net enrolment rate (NER) – calculated as the number of enrolled students, divided by the number of total enrolment eligible students – stands at 99%, and almost all students complete primary school.

In the 2017/18 World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index (GCI), which assessed drivers of productivity and long-term growth in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Sri Lanka scored 6.2 out of 7 and ranked 43rd out of 137 economies surveyed on the primary education and health pillar, on a par with much larger or wealthier economies like China, Qatar and Luxembourg.

Secondary

Junior secondary schooling in Sri Lanka runs for four years, from grade 6 to 9 (ages 11-14). This is followed by two years of senior secondary education in grades 10-11 (ages 15-16), when students intending to continue into tertiary education must pass the O Levels. Those that do so will study for another two years in grades 12-13 (ages 17-18), in preparation for the A Level test, which effectively serves as the university entrance exam. The NER for the junior secondary level is 84%, but drops to 70% at the senior secondary level. Overall, 87% of students complete secondary school.

Students who pass their O Levels but either do not pass their A Levels or who choose not to pursue tertiary education may instead study at a number of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centres. The TVET system is composed of seven levels of qualifications, the uppermost of which is equivalent to a degree-granting course of study. Some TVET centres grant vocational diplomas, while some offer apprenticeship programmes.

Higher Education

Sri Lanka ranked 78th of 137 in the 2017-18 GCI on higher education and training, significantly lower than its score on childhood care, in large part because of its low tertiary GER.

Attainments of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees require three, two and three years of study, respectively. Entrance to the state system is highly competitive, and capacity constraints are a widespread problem: in 2014/15 only 17% of students who passed their A levels were awarded a place.

Of 450,000 students who pass the O Levels annually, only 20% go on to attend an HEI, while 33% attend a TVET school. This leaves a plurality of students who either enter the labour market without credentials, study overseas or study in a private HEI.

Two types of private HEIs operate and award degrees in Sri Lanka: those that are registered with the MoHE; and those that are not publicly registered, but are affiliated with a foreign university. HEIs with foreign connections are not regulated locally, and it can be difficult to discern the exact number of these schools in operation, the content of their curricula, and the parameters of the degrees that they award. Sector stakeholders have called accordingly for the establishment of an independent accreditation board responsible for monitoring these HEIs.

Enrolment

While primary and junior secondary NERs are consistently high, the participation attenuates at higher levels, with NER falling to 80% in upper secondary school and to just 51% during A Levels. GER among HEIs was 17% in 2017, much lower than the 27% average among middle-income countries.

Evidence suggests that there is a close correlation between income levels and performance on those exams that progress students through the system: around 67% of students in the wealthiest 10% of households pass their O Levels, compared to 27% of test-takers in the poorest decile.

Scholarships

The MoHE sponsors an interest-free student loan scheme for students that achieve A Level qualifications but are not selected to attend a state university. These loans can be put towards pursuing degrees offered by non-state HEIs such as SLIIT, the National School of Business Management and various speciality colleges.

In July 2018 the government selected 1000 grade-12 students who excelled in sports, arts or new inventions as recipients for the Subhaga Scholarship. The programme, which offers a LKR50,000 ($315) grant over a 20-month period, aims to identify and encourage human resource development nationwide.

Academic Affiliations

A variety of foreign institutions partner with domestic entities to operate HEIs in Sri Lanka. For example, a collaboration between the MoE and Informatics Group, a local IT software and product development company, offers University of Westminster bachelor’s degrees in engineering and science at the SLIIT campus in Colombo. Meanwhile, the Academy of Multimedia Design and Technology offers UK degree-level qualifications in an assortment of fields, including advertising, graphic design, interactive multimedia, fashion, film-making and photography.

Teacher Training

A deficiency in bringing teachers into the workforce poses a systemic problem and is compounded by a promotion process that is based on length of service, rather than teaching results.

According to a key 2017 report from the NEC, many instructors lack post-graduate degrees in education, which is the minimum qualification to do the job. Position vacancies are high, and there is a lack of candidates qualified to fill them.

The report highlighted two of the main challenges to recruiting talented educators: restricted upward career mobility; and low remuneration compared to other professions with comparable entry qualifications. The NEC also suggested ways to reverse this trend, including increasing the number of senior positions and creating opportunities for educators to upgrade their qualifications. The report also recommended that promotion be contingent on educators’ becoming proficient in English and, on completion of their training, working in their areas of specialisation.

As part of its reform project, the MoE has developed detailed objectives, strategies and targets to train competent educators, including opportunities for promotion, training and development. Its plan incentivises the pursuit of higher-level degrees, diplomas and training programmes. Measurable targets include increasing the share of teachers with IT proficiency to 70% and ensuring that 90% of teachers have acquired the requisite qualifications.

Vocational

About 120,000 students per year do not continue schooling beyond the O Level. To address the problems associated with a large pool of unskilled youth, the NIE has developed a new course of study for a TVET stream called the upper secondary vocational curriculum. It consists of 26 subjects under seven domains: design; sociocultural studies; agro- and food technology; technical studies; tourism and hospitality; environmental studies; and health and social services. In grade 13 students undertake 650 hours of hands-on work. Certificate earners can either take up employment or continue with their schooling at TVET institutes or the Open University, a state institution organised to offer educational opportunities to working adults.

Public Schools

A 2017 census showed that, of 4.17m students, nearly 19.5% were enrolled in 353 national schools funded and administered by the MoE, despite these schools comprising only 3.5% of all facilities. In comparison, 9841 provincial schools – 96.5% of the nationwide total – had enrolment of 3.35m, equal to 80.5% of the student population.

There were a total of 11,053 schools in operation in 2017. Of these, public schools comprised 10,194; 80 were government-approved private institutions; 25 provided services to children with special needs; and the MoE ran 754 pirivenas. Government schools employed 241,591 teachers and enrolled 4.17m students, equivalent to a pupil-to-teacher ratio of 17:1. That ratio was 20:1 in private and special education schools and 10:1 in Buddhist education.

International Schools

Demand for private education is highest among affluent, urban students and has been increasing at a rapid pace. In 2017 there were approximately 265 fee-based, international schools operating in the country, with a total enrolment of 56,919 students. The precise number of private schools is difficult to determine, though the NEC estimates that there are around 300 in operation. The main attraction to these schools is that lessons are delivered in English.

The MoE conflates pupil enrolment rates in government-approved private schools and special education facilities, wherein, the enrolled population rose from 131,397 in 2014 to 138,657 in 2017.

Although the number of private schools is relatively small, they are highly sought-after by students who wish to study abroad for their tertiary education. The cohort of students pursuing schooling overseas makes up a large contingent of the entire tertiary education segment: according to UNESCO, more than 19,000 Sri Lankans studied abroad in 2017, up from 16,000 in 2013, with the most popular host countries being Australia, the US, Malaysia and the UK.

Given the curricula taught and credentials earned – most frequently Edexcel or International Baccalaureate degrees – at private schools, their students may graduate without the credentials required for admission to the country’s public universities.

E-Learning

As entrance to public universities becomes increasingly competitive, students who are unable or unwilling to leave the country for higher education are turning to enrolment in a range of distance and e-learning programmes. The Open University hosts a large, online system encompassing a wide variety of courses and degrees, while the e-Learning Centre at the University of Colombo’s School of Computing supports undergraduate, postgraduate, external and extension degree programmes. The non-profit site edulanka.lk covers primary education, O and A levels, tertiary and postgraduate education, and vocational training. More options are available from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, which offers e-Learning as part of its degree coursework.

Industry Collaboration

The National Science Foundation facilitates the improvement of the national ecosystem for technology and promotes STEM across primary, secondary and tertiary levels. It does so by partnering with international organisations, such as the World Bank and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as with local organisations like the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies.

Foreign Direct Investment

Although the education sector has not historically been a major target of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, the demand for English language instruction and persistent overcapacity at public universities suggest that there is potential for greater external investment.

In July 2018 NHRDC proposed the creation of a single point of entry to attract FDI for establishing private universities and training institutions. “Sri Lanka needs foreign investments coming into the country’s higher education system in order to broaden accessibility and turn out graduates who have the skills needed to lift the economy to the next level,” Chandra Embuldeniya, an NHRDC council member, told local press during the announcement.

The international community has worked for many years in tandem with educators and government agencies to increase educational attainment and capacity. The World Bank’s International Development Association has boosted institutional capacities and integrated quality assurance into its programmes to improve curricula, education policy and financing.

Two other World Bank projects, the General Education Modernisation Project (GEM) and the Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development Operation, are currently active and have a combined total project cost investment of $3bn, including a $100 concessionary loan for GEM.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is building on a successful 2006-15 country assistance programme via its current country partnership strategy, which highlights private-sector development and expansion into the tertiary sector. Results-based loans may be used to develop secondary education, TVET centres and HEIs, as well as to support the establishment of a technology university through a public-private partnership. The ADB also plans to help link industry groups and technology institutes and increase expenditure on research and development.

Outlook 

The demand for quality tertiary education and the country’s escalating need to develop a skilled workforce have opened new avenues for foreign investment in Sri Lankan education. As the popularity of international schools demonstrates, parents and students with financial means are willing to pay for an education delivered in English. The private segment has ample room to grow, and the gains to be made in human capital alongside its development augur long-term benefits to the productivity and competitiveness of the Sri Lankan economy.