For almost three decades, the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank fund that helps the world’s poorest countries, has been the single largest foreign development partner in the education sector in Sri Lanka.
Below are four key achievements:
1. Improving textbooks and upgrading the curriculum
Consecutive programs improved the content and physical quality of textbooks. Another key development was the shift from a single textbook policy under state monopoly to a Multiple Book Option (MBO) policy allowing for greater private sector participation and a focus on improved learning outcomes, inclusion, equity, and diversity. Curriculum and management reforms incorporated modern technology and teaching methods, offering thousands of young Sri Lankans pathways to successful careers.
2. Strengthening education policy, institutions and financing
Under Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Project (HETC), reforms projected the rationalization and restructuring of university and non-university, and focused on improving public-private partnerships, introducing accreditation mechanisms, cost-recovery strategies, innovative faculties and increased access.
Under the US$ 100 million project, Transforming the School Education System as the Foundation of a Knowledge Hub project (TSEP), the government announced a policy that would take national assessments of learning outcomes and feed these back into policy and program development. Also under TSEP, a model of school-based management called the Program for School Improvement (PSI) was deployed.
3. Building up libraries and librarians
Under the Second General Education Project (GEP II), more than 1,500,000 library books in 3,062 titles in Sinhala, Tamil and English were provided to existing school libraries, and 100,000 sets of books were supplied to the newly established libraries. A national library policy was implemented and the National Institute of Library and Information Service (NILIS) at the University of Colombo was established. In 2003, nine courses for teacher librarians were launched, ranging from a Master’s Degree to certificate courses in librarianship.
4. Establishing and implementing quality assurance measures
The Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education Project (IRQUE) helped establish quality assurance accreditation (QAA) function for public universities for the first time. A QAA Council was established in 2005, which in turned developed Codes of Practice and a Credit and Qualification Framework. Subsequently, 163 subjects/departments were reviewed through external assessments by multi-disciplinary teams. Established under the IRQUE, the QAAC is now a division of the UGC. Quality assurance was a key thread connecting all the IDA education projects.
Original source: The World Bank
Published on 18 October 2018
