EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE POOR ASSESSING SPATIAL DISPARITIES

Abstract

Sri Lanka enjoys a remarkable progress in terms of its basic education indicators, compared to many other developing countries in the world. By 2004, it had an adult literacy rate of about 92.5 per cent, and a net primary enrolment ratio of 98 per cent. The primary completion ratio for Sri Lanka is also relatively high, with only about 3 per cent of the students dropping out before reaching grade 5. Moreover, Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress in gender equality in education. The adult literacy rate for female is 96 per cent of that for male while youth literacy rate for female is as high as 101 percent of that for male. In addition, net primary enrolment ratio for female is about 97 per cent and is at the same level as that for male students. However, it is interesting to note that the combined ratio for all educational levels for female is about 102 per cent of that for male, implying higher enrolments among female students