An island nation of about 20 million people located off the southern coast of India, Sri Lanka has high literacy rates and a strong network of non-governmental organisations. 

School-age Population by Education Level1

2,731,400

 

1,532,299

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20181

103%

 

98%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education
for the school year ending 20191

26%

 

16%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

71.1%

 

53.8%

Secondary (2018)

 

Tertiary (2018)

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in June 2021

 

Literacy rate (2010)1

90%

 

92.6%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

74%

 

44%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

6%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

78

 

71

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

11.6 115.1
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
7.2 58.8
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
27.2 34.1
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

COL’s current 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. Sri Lanka benefits from programmes under the aegis of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, and learners have also benefited from COL’s open online courses and other resources.

In May 2016, COL’s President and CEO Professor Asha Kanwar received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Lit.) Honoris Causa from OUSL.

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
  • Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure
  • MAS Holdings
  • National Institute of Education
  • Open University of Sri Lanka
  • Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum
  • University Grants Commission
  • University of Peradeniya
  • University of Ruhuna
  • Women's Development Centre