SL among the lowest in South Asia for spending on education: UNICEF

Sri Lanka allocated less than 2% of its GDP on education, which falls well below the international benchmark of 4-6% of GDP and is among the lowest in the South Asia region, a statement issued by UNICEF said.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and UNICEF spearhead a national initiative to help 1.6 million primary school children impacted by prolonged school closures and sporadic disruptions to their education over the past three years, to catch up on their learning.

According to a Moe-led national assessment, 85% of Grade 3 children are not achieving minimum proficiency in literacy and numeracy, which is essential in their transition to secondary school and beyond, both in life and work.

“There is an urgent need to increase the national budget allocation for education, especially for primary grades, where we need to boost foundational learning for children, while also ensuring the implementation of vital Education Reforms so that we can build the solid
human resource skills needed to support the country’s development,” said Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha at the event.

The event was held under the leadership of Minister Premajayantha, along with the UNICEF Representative for Sri Lanka, Christian Skoog, and was attended by government and development partners.

The learning crisis has affected vulnerable children the most, including younger children in primary grades and those in plantation estates in the country.

In July, the MOE and UNICEF held a special brief­ing on ‘Learning Recovery’ to leverage the support of development partners, while more technical level workshops were held across nine provinces, to identify gaps and prioritize actions.