Sri Lanka - Institut de statistique de l'Unesco

Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study
as at risk, had interests, for example, in drawing and practical work, which did not receive
adequate, or any, support. One child, Sudhir, described his experience in joining a new school.
Sudhir explained, “Due to a quarrel at home, my mother took us to my grandmother’s house
at Illupadichenai and put me in school there. As I was new to the school, I did not know what
to do and was a bit afraid. Teachers would start the lesson as soon as they entered the
classroom, and not take any interest in my situation. I did not understand what was being
taught and could not answer my homework. Since I could not do my work properly, the
teachers would scold and beat me. I hated lessons and could not score good marks on
tests. I did not like school.”
Disability
Another supply-side barrier to the inclusion of every child in school is the issue of appropriate
schooling for children with disabilities. Disability appears to be an issue that prevents a
substantial number of children from enrolling and continuing their education. The Child Activity
Survey 2008/09 found that ‘disability/illness’ was the second highest reason given for
non-attendance, with 13.0 percent of girls and 10.8 percent of boys reporting this (DCS, 2011c).
DCS (2003) revealed that a large proportion (31.7 percent) of the disabled population had never
attended school. As Mendis (2004) points out, more disabled females than males had never
attended school. The proportions of disabled students attending school in 2000 were 59.5
percent for boys and 40.5 percent for girls. The Association of Women with Disabilities claims
that one third of respondents to an unpublished study it conducted in 2009 reported that
disability was the main reason for their non-schooling or early dropout.
Saddhananda (2001) found that it is not easy for those with disabilities to enter the school
system and there are few facilities for them to obtain an education. There is a scarcity of schools
for the blind, and an inadequacy of teachers with competency in sign language. Lack of proper
alternative facilities in educational institutions and provision of Braille equipment and audio
tapes, etc., and insufficiency of teachers trained in inclusive education hamper the translation of
inclusive education policies into practice.
Ahuja and Mendis (2002) found that teachers very rarely identified children with disabilities as
being within the Special Educational Needs Group. Instead, they focused on children with
psychological, social and economic problems such as those whose parents were migrant
workers or were poor, or those who had alcoholic fathers or other difficult circumstances.
Teachers were of the opinion that children with disabilities should be placed in Special Education
Units and had no place in the ‘normal’ classroom.
Gunawardena’s (2009) study found that the identification of slow learners appears to be based
solely on class assessment without any reference to the Standard Assessment carried out on
entry to school. Zonal directors responding in this study attributed 63.6 percent of the
responsibility for slow learning to school factors, while 21.7 percent of students felt the conflict
had influenced their slow learning. The supply-side factors identified as associated with slow
learning and children with special needs were (i) lack of human and physical resources; (ii) poor
attendance by principals, teachers, and in-service advisers; and (iii) negative attitudes by
principals and teachers.
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