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Sri Lanka

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An island nation of over 22 million people (World Bank, 2022), Sri Lanka is located off the southern coast of India and has high literacy rates and a strong network of non-governmental organisations.

COL’s work in Sri Lanka is primarily in the areas of girls’ and women’s education and training, higher education, teacher education, lifelong learning for farmers, and technology-enabled learning and benefits from programmes under the aegis of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). Learners from Sri Lanka are also participating in COL’s free online courses and benefitting from other openly available resources.

Highlights

  • COL-CEMCA and the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) collaborated on developing a course on caregiving to the elderly.
  • Professor Shironica P. Karunanayaka, The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), appointed COL Chair for the period 2023 to 2026.
  • Over 8,800 learners from Sri Lanka have enrolled in 77,606 courses with 17,477 certificates issued under the Skills Online project.
  • 4,432 learners at OUSL were oriented to Commonwealth Digital Education Leadership Training in Action (C-DELTA) as a noncredit online course.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL’s partners in Sri Lanka include:

  • Ministry of Education
  • Centre for Media and Information Literacy (CMIL)
  • International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation
  • National Institute of Education (NIE)
  • National Library of Sri Lanka
  • National Youth Services Council
  • Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)
  • Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC)
  • Together with Youth
  • Women’s Development Centre (WDC)
  • Wayamba Technical College, Sri Lanka Youth Ltd

Key Contacts

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Honourable Dr Harini Amarasuriya
Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

Focal Point

N. A. Ishanthie Jayawardena
Assistant Director of Education
Foreign Agencies and External Affairs branch
Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

Notable Mention

Professor Uma Coomaraswamy, COL Honorary Fellow

Professor Shironica Karunanayaka, Honorary COL Adviser

Dr Tara de Mel, former member of COL’s Board of Governors

Dr Susil Premajayantha, former member of COL’s Board of Governors

Mr H.M. Sirisena, former member of COL’s Board of Governors

Professor D.S. Wijeyesekera, former member of COL’s Board of Governors

More Information

News

Reports

Publications and Resources

Country Data Sources