More than 300,000 school dropouts during last decade

30 November 2023 07:21 am Views - 750

Colombo, Nov.30 (Daily Mirror) - More than 300,000 children have dropped out of schools in Sri Lanka from 2012 to 2021, Parliament was informed yesterday.

Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha who was responding to an oral question raised by MP B.Y.G. Ratnasekera, said some 307,318 schoolchildren have dropped out of school from 2012 to 2021.

As per the data tabled by the Minister, children from grades one to ten have dropped out of school during the given period.

The number of dropouts has been fluctuating, as per the data revealed by the Minister. Accordingly, the dropouts have been reduced to 22,765 in 2020 compared to 27,590 in 2019. Dropouts have been reduced to 19,924 in 2021, indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in as many dropouts as anticipated.

However, 166,418 students have been given vocational training in 2021. This is compared to 144,919 in 2020.