Sri Lanka - Institut de statistique de l'Unesco

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Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study Figure 1.2: Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) Dimension 1 Not in preprimary school Attended but dropped out Dimension 2 Will never Will enter enter late Attended but dropped out Dimension 3 Will never enter Will enter late Out of school Pre-primary age children Primary age children Lower secondary age children Dimension 4 At risk of dropping out of primary school Dimension 5 At risk of dropping out of lower secondary school In School Primary school students Lower secondary school students The 5DE framework combines four unique approaches that have key policy implications for addressing the equity-related challenges to universal primary education (UNICEF and UIS, 2011). Firstly, by generating data on OOSC of both primary and lower secondary school age, as well as pre-primary school age, the model underlines the importance of the life cycle approach and of effectively linking the provision of education to the different developmental stages of children’s lives. Primary education alone is insufficient to ensure that children are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for their own development and to build societies and economies for the 21st century. Addressing the whole life cycle of children’s educational needs, including the transitions between the levels of basic education, is necessary to attain universal primary education successfully. Evidence shows that pre-primary education is crucial for entry into and success in primary education levels and that widening access to lower secondary opportunities increases primary completion rates and improves school-to-labour-market transitions. This feature of the model has implications in relation to improved coherence and balance between policies throughout the basic education cycle, and improved attention to transitions between different education levels and grades. Secondly, the model has a particular strength in drawing attention to the various patterns and forms of exposure to schooling for OOSC (early school leavers, children who will enter in the future, children who will never enter school, as well as exposure to community-based pre-primary education and non-formal education (NFE) services that are not recognized by the formal system and are not captured by statistics). This focus has key implications for improved analysis of the barriers to school participation, for improved targeting, and for accounting, strengthening and developing policies and strategies that provide for multiple and alternative pathways to education and learning. Thirdly, the disparity analysis within the 5DE is key for a better understanding of the multiple and overlapping forms of exclusion and barriers to inclusion, for increasing the visibility of marginalized groups, for more effective tracking and targeting of disadvantaged groups and areas (while working on universality of access), and for improving the linkage between education policies and social protection systems. 6
Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study Finally, the 5DE framework covers children who are currently in school but at risk of leaving before completion, thus identifying at-risk groups who may become the OOSC of tomorrow. This is a key feature in linking equity in access to quality education, demand-driven poverty-focused policies to supply-side provision of quality (especially in relation to school-level processes), and policies for OOSC to policies for children in school. In fact, while the 5DE model is focused on issues of access and retention, it also opens channels for a more sophisticated analysis of learning and completion, and highlights the importance of education quality as a factor related to parental decisions about sending children to school and school participation more generally. 1.5 5DE in Sri Lanka The following paragraphs provide an overview of the extent of children in the 5DE prior to the analysis conducted for this study, using the most up-to-date information available. Dimension 1: A survey conducted in 2006 found that, in the 185 divisions covered (excluding conflict-affected divisions in Northern and Eastern Provinces), 79.9 percent of preschool-age children were receiving a preschool education (MCDWE, 2010). It is estimated that 84 percent of four-year-olds were enrolled in pre-primary education in 2010 in institutions of varying quality. According to the MOE, 95 percent of children admitted to Grade 1 in 2010 had some exposure to preschool education (MOE, 2010). A survey in 2009 by the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment found that 48 percent of children in preschool education were aged four years, while the remainder were aged either 5–6 years (29 percent) or 2–3 years (23 percent) (MCDWE, 2010). Of children attending early childhood development (ECD) centres, Western Province had the highest proportion at 23.5 percent and Northern Province had the lowest proportion at 5.6 percent; these rates are commensurate with population size, as Western Province accounts for 28.8 percent of the country’s population and Northern Province accounts for 5.2 percent. Approximately 50 percent of children attending ECD centres were girls, and 76.1 percent were from the Sinhala community, 15.4 percent were Tamil, and seven percent were Moor/Malay. There was no gender difference by residential status. Using father’s employment, education and income as indicators of socioeconomic status, two thirds of children (66.6 percent) were from households with the highest socioeconomic status, and only 6.7 percent were from households with the poorest socioeconomic status; this is probably due to the fact that the majority of ECD centres are private and fee-levying. Dimension 2: According to the DHS 2006/07, two percent of children in Sri Lanka are out of school at primary level. Disaggregation indicates that this ranges from one to four percent across the nine provinces, and is highest in plantation schools at nine percent. Differences by gender and wealth quintile are minimal. Dropout rates are small and retention rates are high. Dimension 3: Nearly 3.3 percent of children aged 11–14 years in lower secondary education (Grades 6–9) are out of school. Again, there is little difference by gender, but the impact of poverty is more noticeable for this age group than for younger children. Dropout rates range between two and five percent by age and are higher for boys than for girls. Retention rates are over 90 percent and are better for girls than for boys. Child labour in this age group is higher than for younger children. The Labour Force Survey 2009 estimates that 1.4 percent of the labour force is in this age group (DCS, 2010), while the Child Activity Survey 2008/09 estimates that 5.4 percent of the labour force is aged 12–14 years (DCS, 2011c). Many more children are also employed in the informal sector. Access to alternative education is available in state non-formal literacy centres, and children in this age group also have access to vocational training programmes. Dimensions 4 and 5: At-risk children are enrolled in primary and lower secondary schools but factors such as overage for the grade, irregular attendance, failure in studies, ill health, the need to assist families through employment, child marriage and child abuse can precipitate their dropping out of school. No reliable estimates currently exist on the numbers of at-risk primaryand lower-secondary-school children. 7
Page 1: Ministry of Education
Page 4 and 5: © United Nations Children’s Fund
Page 6 and 7: Message of the Hon. Deputy Minister
Page 8 and 9: Message of the Secretary to the Min
Page 10 and 11: Message of the Director of Educatio
Page 12 and 13: Acknowledgements CENWOR would like
Page 14 and 15: Acronyms 5DE Five Dimensions of Exc
Page 16 and 17: ● ● Children in Dimension 4 are
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Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka
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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEN
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Sri Lanka - Institut de statistique de l'Unesco

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