World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and Ministry Secretary for Finance and Mass Media from Sri Lanka signed a US $ 100 million credit agreement with the World Bank to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen and modernise the general education system in the country.

The General Education Modernisation Project (GEM) will modernise and diversify the curriculum of general education, in keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lanka’s society and economy. The project will benefit school students both at the primary (grades 1-5) and secondary (grades 6-13) levels, the technical education and vocational training institutes and academic and managerial staff of the schools.

Greater emphasis will be on strategic subjects that are key for economic development such as English and Mathematics. The project will help broaden the choices at the GCE A-level grades, so the students have the flexibility in selecting subjects from among the arts, management, science, technology and vocational streams.  Learning material for English language and Mathematics will be developed digitally and the focus will be on children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions.

The World Bank has been a long-standing partner of Sri Lanka in the education sector and has achieved many great outcomes. The Transforming School Education System Project (TSEP), supported by the World Bank, has helped the country increase the survival rate of students from grades 1–11 (ages 6–16) to over 87 percent, introduced a regular cycle of national assessments of learning outcomes and started School Based Management to support the administration of schools in all zones. 

If you wish to obtain further information on latest market developments in Sri Lanka, please write to Nishika Hassim - Manager Higher Education and International Education Services at Nishika.Hassim@britishcouncil.org