Education Sector Opportunities

Sri Lanka is, in many aspects, a development success story. The country’s robust economic growth for over a decade has helped to reduce poverty and promoted shared prosperity. In 2010–13, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent, Sri Lanka was the fastest-growing economy in South Asia. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth continued in 2014, reaching 7.4 per cent, driven mainly by services, manufacturing, and construction. In 2016, the country’s per capita GDP was expected to reach US$4,000. Measured by per capita consumption and using the national poverty line, Sri Lanka’s poverty rate dropped to 6.7 per cent in 2012/13 (World Bank 2016).

Sri Lanka has provided high and equitable access to primary and secondary education for several decades (World Bank 2011). The net enrollment rate (NER) is 99 per cent in primary school and 84 per cent in junior secondary, and there is gender parity in both (figures O.1). In senior secondary education, NER is 70 per cent, which is relatively high for middle-income countries. On average, Sri Lankan students attend school for about ten years, compared to six years in South Asia. Hence, the newly appointed Government has a wide range of opportunities for private sector investors:

•     The government, with the support of the private sector, will open student hostels for university and other students, and the income derived from these hostels will be made tax free.
•    Infrastructure facilities and modern technology will be provided to needy rural schools to improve their quality and to prevent the closure of such schools.
•    The government is to digitalise the entire education system and will provide the necessary knowledge, training, and infrastructure to school children, teachers and parents.
•      The government will also convert all universities to Smart Learning Universities and provide the necessary technical support.
•      An aviation university and a nautical university will be established to improve the quality and professionalism of those engaged in those fields.
•       Action will be taken to upgrade the Maritime University to international standard. Steps will be taken to expand the Kotelawala Defence University, which is in high demand among students.
•        An island-wide network of new ‘technical university colleges’ will be established.

In Sri Lanka’s quest to become a knowledge hub for Asia, Education and Training have undoubtedly become the key sectors of focus. Although Sri Lanka has a very high literacy rate and is producing graduates who are of ever-increasing quality, there is very much room for improvement in the sector. The government policy of creating a dynamic education sector with the involvement of the private sector to create competition and breathe new life to a system that may have stagnated has created a wealth of business opportunities in Sri Lanka for who are interested.

OSL Take: The focus of the newly elected government in enhancing the education sector is a clear indicator of the emerging business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector. Sri Lanka has given priority to the country’s education sector in line with Sri Lanka’s long term development plans. Many foreign universities have opened pathway colleges in Sri Lanka as well. Therefore international businesses/investors could explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector.
VBS/AT/16122019/Z_TB1