World Bank Helps Strengthen And Reform Tertiary Education In Sri Lanka

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2003—Sri Lanka’s long-term tertiary education reform project, Improving  Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education will receive support from a US$ 40.3 million credit approved today by the World Bank.  The financing, provided by the Bank’s International Development Association, will help the government address major shortcomings in the tertiary education system in terms of quality and access.  The overall goal is to redirect Sri Lanka’s tertiary education system towards one which can effectively support economic and social development.

“The Government has made tertiary education reform a priority and the World Bank is pleased to offer its support,” said World Bank Country Director Peter Harrold.  “The project will build capacity of tertiary institutions to produce a better caliber of graduates as the creation of a high quality work force will be a vital factor in the realization of the government’s poverty reduction strategy.”

The two major components of the project are to build institutional capacity in the tertiary education system and to improve  the relevance and quality of tertiary education.  The first component will focus on strengthening national planning and monitoring, establishing a Board for Quality Assurance, and strengthening the management of universities.  The second component will focus on improvements to the relevance and quality of tertiary education, which  will be met by establishing a Quality Enhancement Fund (QEF) and by the Tharuna Aruna II (Young Professional II)  program.  The QEF will allocate resources to improve undergraduate degree study programs in public and private universities on a competitive basis, judging the quality and market relevance of proposals. The Tharuna Aruna II program aims to improve the employability of unemployed graduates in the private sector. 

Recognizing that public support for the reform program is vital to its success, the project will support government’s efforts to build consensus through dialogue and to keep Sri Lankans well informed about the reforms.

“This project offers opportunities for the most ambitious study programs in the country  to improve their performance in terms of teaching and learning and to strengthen the  linkages between tertiary education institutions and society at large,”  said Rosita Van Meel, World Bank Task Leader of the project. “The project aims to contribute to Sri Lanka’s  national policy to align the tertiary education system to best practices in Asia  and the rest of the world.”

The main executing agencies  for the project are the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training (MTE&T)  through the Policy, Planning and Development  Unit (PPDI) and the Quality Enhancement Technical Secretariat (QETS)  in collaboration with the University Grants Commission   The Secretary, MTE&T, would be accountable for the project and will report directly to the Minister.

The total project cost is US$51 million, of which the International Development Association (IDA) will provide US$ 40.3 million and the Government of Sri Lanka will provide US$ 10.7 million.  The IDA credit carries a O.75 percent service charge, and 0.5 percent commitment charge,  no interest, and will mature in 40 years with a 10-year grace period.

The World Bank currently supports three ongoing projects in the education sector in Sri Lanka, namely, The Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment  Project (64.1 Million), General Education Project (70.3 Million) and the Distance Learning Project (2 Million).

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