Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2010Education and Technology –Towards a Knowledge SocietySri Lanka is to become a KnowledgeHub in the region by 2016.Development of modern educationand knowledge systems that producea creative Sri Lankan is fundamentalto transform Sri Lanka into aKnowledge Hub. As the country isgeared to take off and emerge as afast growing middle-income country,it is critically important that SriLanka has the human capital neededto compete with global knowledgeeconomies. In view of this, numberof projects and programmes wereimplemented during 2010, investingconsiderable amount of funds as aninitial step to become a knowledgehub in the region by 2016.The public investment in education atprimary, secondary and tertiary levelshas increased significantly during thelast five years. The total expenditureon education has increased from Rs.87 billion in 2007 to Rs. 110 billion in2010 representing an increase by 26percent.The expenditure on free text books,nutrition programmes and uniformshas been gradually increasing since2005. About 4 million studentsbenefited from these programmes in2010.Promoting equity, enhancing thequality and relevance of education,have been the main focus of educationpolicy. The national literacy rate hasincreased steadily to 94.2 percent.Net primary and secondary enrolmentrate is about 99 and 91 percent,respectively. These statistics are highwhen compared with other countriesin Asia and reflect the expansion ofeducational service in the country.Equitable Access to Primary andSecondary EducationThe education sector continued tomake a strong progress in reducingthe number of out-of-school childrenin the compulsory schooling agecategory of 5-14 years. Between 2007and 2010, over 41,800 out-of-schoolchildren had enrolled either in schoolsor in Literacy Centres. Simultaneously,a programme for schools to takenecessary measures preventing thedrop-out has been implemented in allprovinces.Increased O/L and A/L ResultsThe trend of GCE O/L pass rates,defined as students qualifying for theGCE A/L, is positive and increasing. In2005, only 47 percent of candidatespassed the GCE O/L. By 2010, the passrate has increased to 58.8 percent.The GCE A/L pass rates have alsoincreased from 43.7 percent in 2002to 61 percent in 2010. The percentageof students who have passed in six ormore subjects with first language andmathematics in the G.C.E. (O/L) was56 percent in 2010.Quality of Text BooksSpecial emphasis was given to thepublication and delivery of text bookson time. About 25.4 million new textbooks were distributed in 2010 and7 million text books were re-used.A review process was instituted toimprove the quality of school textbooks.Chart 1.41 > Public Expenditure 2005-2010Expenditure by National and Provincial Government120100Rs. billion806040202829324240 4552404851 52 5802005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010ProvincialNationalSource: Department of National Budget87