parents cannot send all their children to school

According to the United Nations, at this moment more than 6 million people have difficulties accessing food and families sacrifice schooling to reduce expenses. The plantations have the highest rates of school dropout. In April another million children could stay at home and that will be a bigger problem than the financial situation.

Colombo () – Due to the economic crisis, parents in Sri Lanka are unable to send all their children to school every day. According to the United Nations, at this moment more than 6 million people have difficulties accessing food and families sacrifice schooling to reduce expenses. Although Sri Lanka offers free schooling from primary school to university, not all schools provide food, and the cost of school books and transport for children have forced parents to choose which child to send to school.

Sandeepa Mirihella, a resident of Monaragala, in Uva province, told that “extreme poverty is the main reason why many children drop out of school. With the current economic crisis, parents have lost their livelihoods. Many Male students have dropped out of school to find small jobs to support their families, and female students are staying at home to earn a living in local craft enterprises.”

An economic analyst has explained that “Sri Lanka performed well on basic education indicators, which include a high literacy rate and near universal primary and secondary school attendance. However, there are big differences, especially in the school results of the children who live on the plantations, where the dropout rate is 4% in primary school, 20% in secondary school, and 26% in undergraduate courses. These percentages are much lower in the urban and rural sectors.”

According to experts, “many of the schools on the plantations are type 3 (only have primary level) and this discourages students from enrolling in secondary schools, which are further away. In Nuware Eliya district, one of the largest, 50.2% of the schools are type 3 and the absence of other types of schools causes many children to drop out after completing primary school”.

Economic observer Dhanushka Sirimanne explained that “more than 35% of families can’t even eat one plate a day and have difficulties sending their children to school. That is why about 1.4 million of the 4.1 million school-age children could be deprived of their right to education.”

“Many parents will not be able to keep up with their low, hard-earned salaries,” says the academic. “Getting 15 thousand rupees [39 euros] or more to send a child to school is impossible for them. Managers and teachers, some of whom are also parents, insist that families send their children to school with everything the list of materials calls for.

“The teachers’ union bosses, who until recently were dedicated to demanding salary increases with demonstrations and protests, are silent on this problem,” added Sirimanne.

Meanwhile, the opposition has yet to say anything about the education budget, which is only 1.66 million rupees (4.3 million euros) by 2023. Activist Udaya Ganegoda commented that “everyone must understand that if basic necessities like food are still so expensive, the number of school dropouts could reach 30-35% in April. This means 1.2 million of the 4.1 million school-age children, a more serious problem than the economic crisis”.