Sri Lanka: Attaining the Millennium Development Goals in Sri Lanka, How Likely and What Will it Take to Reduce Poverty, Child Mortality and Malnutrition, and to Increase School Enrollment and Completion?

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Abstract

This report focuses on the attainment of five major human development-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by sub-national units in Sri Lanka relating to poverty, under-five and infant mortality, child malnutrition, schooling enrollment and completion, and gender disparities in schooling. The selection of these MDGs for detailed analysis was based in large part on the availability of reliable sub-national data. The report concludes that of these MDGs, Sri Lanka has already attained the numerical goals relating to universal primary enrollment and completion. Indeed, the country had almost met these goals as far back as 1990-91, and is far ahead o f the other countries of South Asia in terms of having reached near-universal primary enrollment and completion. Sri Lanka has also attained the MD goal of gender parity in primary and secondary school enrollments, again having met this target as early as 1990-91. However, Sri Lanka faces considerable challenges in ensuring good quality primary education, with substantial shortfalls in cognitive achievement in the country as a whole. Further, Sri Lanka experiences sharp regional disparities in learning outcomes. Improving the quality of primary education in the country, with special emphasis on educationally disadvantaged areas, will require strategic policy development, effective service delivery and efficient investment of resources.