President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed Parliament today during the adjournment debate on proposed education reforms, urging lawmakers to overhaul the country’s education system amid rising dropout rates and under-enrolled schools.

Dissanayake stressed that significant reforms are needed to ensure no child leaves school before completing 13 years of education. He cited troubling data: school dropouts increased from 16,673 in 2019 to 20,759 in 2022, with a slight decrease to 20,755 in 2024.

“No child should leave school without completing 13 years of education,” he said.

Referencing the children born in the year 2006, Dissanayake noted that out of 358,506 children who entered Grade 1 in 2011, only around 311,000 sat for their Ordinary Level exams in 2021—leaving nearly 47,000 unaccounted for.

“While some may have pursued private or foreign education, he said, many are dropouts,” the President said. He also urged teachers to take immediate action if a student misses three consecutive days of school.“If a child doesn’t turn up at school for three days, the teachers must personally investigate the reason. No child should be left behind.”

Highlighting the dire situation in underpopulated schools, Dissanayake said:

•⁠ ⁠In 2023, 98 schools recorded zero admissions
•⁠ ⁠115 schools had fewer than 10 students
•⁠ ⁠406 schools fewer than 20
•⁠ ⁠752 schools fewer than 30
•⁠ ⁠1,142 schools fewer than 40
•⁠ ⁠1,506 schools fewer than 50

The President also highlighted that 15% of government schools had fewer than 50 students, with one in three government schools having under 100 students. Students in such schools, he said, miss out on events, sports, trips and peer interaction. “Should the children face this? This is why the education system must be reviewed,” he said.

He acknowledged that there may be difficult decisions ahead, stating that some schools may need to be closed or merged and that new schools must be built in underserved areas. Dissanayake also said that the teacher-student imbalance contributes to the waste of human resrouces in the education sector.

“I will not name the schools. But there is one school in Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee with two students and two teachers. Another in Bandarawela has three teachers and three students. Another in Trincomalee has four students and four teachers,” he said criticizing the 1 to 5 teacher‑student ratio in schools with fewer than 50 students. (Newswire)

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