According to Professor Wasantha Athukorala from the Department of Economics and Statistics at Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka has seen a significant drop in the number of children attending government schools over the past six years. Between 2018 and 2023, the student population in government schools fell by 332,084, from 4,214,772 in 2018 to 3,882,688 in 2023. This sharp decline is accompanied by a reduction in the number of government schools, which dropped from 10,175 to 10,096 during the same period.
Professor Athukorala also noted a decrease in the number of teachers in government schools, with 9,547 fewer educators in 2023 than in 2018. The teacher count fell from 247,334 in 2018 to 237,787 last year.
In contrast, private schools have been on the rise. While there were 80 private schools in 2018, this number grew to 95 by 2023, indicating a shift towards private education options.
Additionally, the number of small schools—those with less than 50 children—has increased. In 2018, there were 1,480 such schools, but by 2023, this number had risen to 1,506. Similarly, the number of schools with 51 to 100 children grew from 1,530 to 1,638, and those with fewer than 200 children increased from 5,138 to 5,262.
Sociologists attribute these changes to economic and social factors, as well as population migration, which have impacted school attendance and the shift toward private education.
