Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012.pdf

14 percent of Sri Lanka’s population aged 25 and above
was formally educated up to the A-Level in 2009,
while 30 percent passed O-Level exams (Table 4.9).
At the educational level demarcated by O- and A-level
examinations, there was a slight difference in favor of
females on both.
The distribution of educated people varies widely across
the country. In 2009, almost half of the estate population
aged 25 and above was educated below the primary level,
compared to one-sixth of the rural population and 11
percent of the urban population. By junior secondary
level, these differences increased significantly in favor of
the urban population, a trend affirmed in pass rates on
national examinations. Thirty-eight percent of people in
urban areas aged 25 and above had passed the O-Level
examination, compared to 29 percent of people in rural
areas. A fifth of the urban population had passed the
A-Level examination, but only 13 percent of the rural
population had done so. On the estates, performance on
both examinations was dismal: A mere 6 and 3 percent of
people passed O-Level and A-Level exams, respectively.
Nationally, the Western Province was at the top of the
educational ladder in 2009, with 39 percent and 18
percent of its population having passed the O-Level and
A-Level exams, respectively. The Northern Province was
the lowest performer, with about 17 percent and 9 percent
of people passing these, respectively. By socioeconomic
group, the poorest quintile fares the worst, at 10 percent
and 3 percent, respectively. For the richest quintile, 55
percent passed the O-Level exam, while almost a third
passed the A-Level.
Table 4.9: Highest Level of Formal Education Completed by People 25 Years and Above, 2009
Below
primary
Primary
Junior
secondary
Passed
O-Level
Passed
A-Level
Total
National 18 25 28 16 14 100
Male 16 27 28 16 13 100
Female 19 23 28 16 14 100
Urban 11 23 26 18 20 100
Rural 17 25 29 16 13 100
Estate 46 32 16 3 3 100
Western 9 23 28 21 18 100
Central 23 25 26 13 13 100
Southern 21 22 27 17 14 100
Northern 13 39 30 9 8 100
Eastern 29 28 20 13 10 100
North Western 19 29 27 14 11 100
North Central 16 26 35 13 10 100
Uva 29 23 27 13 8 100
Sabaragamuwa 22 23 33 11 12 100
Poorest quintile 32 31 27 7 3 100
2nd quintile 22 30 31 11 6 100
3rd quintile 18 27 30 15 10 100
4th quintile 12 22 30 21 16 100
Richest quintile 7 16 23 23 32 100
Source: Computations by the report team of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka using Department of Census
and Statistics of Sri Lanka 2010c.
Note: Education levels are in hierarchical order. Completion of a particular level of education implies the completion
of all levels below it.
Chapter 4 Bridging Human Development Gaps: EDUCATION 73