In a move that signals a significant shift in the country’s education policy, the government has turned its attention toward closing approximately one hundred rural and underpopulated schools where student numbers have drastically dwindled. Officials say the initiative is part of a broader strategy to improve resource management and educational equity by reallocating students to better-equipped institutions.
According to the Ministry of Education, more than five hundred schools across the country now operate with fewer than ten students. In a growing number of cases, schools are functioning with just two or three pupils. As part of a formal restructuring process, a program has been launched to begin systematically shutting down these schools and relocating their students to neighboring institutions with improved infrastructure, qualified staff, and better access to facilities.
The Ministry emphasized that this consolidation effort is designed to prevent long-term educational disadvantages for children currently attending these isolated schools. A pilot project has already been launched in selected education zones to assess the feasibility of this plan. In the Colombo District, several small schools have already been closed under the initiative, with their students successfully integrated into nearby schools.
This reallocation program is being guided by a core principle: ensuring that every child has access to at least one school within a three-kilometer radius. Education authorities believe this approach will reduce resource waste and enhance educational outcomes for children in rural and underserved areas.
A significant concentration of such underpopulated schools is reported in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Speaking at a campaign rally in the Eastern Province recently, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reaffirmed the government’s commitment to closing down small, under-resourced schools and assigning their students to institutions with better facilities.
Ministry statistics show that the total number of schools in the country decreased by thirty last year compared to the previous year. Additionally, the number of new enrollments in first grade has dropped by more than five thousand, a figure that underscores the demographic shifts affecting the education system. With the national birth rate on a steady decline, education officials say stricter management and long-term strategic planning are now essential for the future viability of the country’s school network.
