Sri Lanka has shown significant achievements in basic education since the 1950s. The project noted that despite these achievements, the low level of investments in education has resulted in rural–urban disparity in education quality. This has reduced the efficiency of the secondary education, both at the ordinary (O level) and the advanced levels (A level). Pass rates at both levels in the national examinations were very low. Only 40% of O level students qualify for the A level. Students in the rural and disadvantaged areas have much lower pass rates than those in the urban areas.
Schools were not preparing their students well for employment and this bring into question the education’s external efficiency and its productivity of investment in the secondary education. Sri Lankan secondary schooling needed to better meet the demands of the labor market, especially in areas with high demand for skills, such as information and communication technology, mathematics, science and technology, and the English language. The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to improving the quality and efficiency of secondary education and modernizing the system to meet labor market requirements.
This report validates the completion report’s assessment of the project. IED overall assessment: Successful.