Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict may be over, but the country’s schools and whole education system are still in bad shape, especially in the east.
About 1.5 million people live in Eastern Province which is one of the hardest-hit areas by natural and man-made disasters. Schools in that area lack teachers, money, infrastructure and plain old TLC.
Floods this year have already caused US$12 million in damage to education, according to UNICEF. That’s in addition to teacher shortages. Secondary schools in Eastern Province are short 222 math teachers, 128 science teachers and 69 English teachers, according to data from the Provincial Department of Education. Another 1,402 teachers are lacking for counseling and electives like music, agriculture and health.
And, those numbers don’t include the more than 500 teachers lacking from primary education.
Many schools lack the money to rebuild following the conflicts. Reports say government money is mainly used to pay teacher salaries, not rebuild schools.
Creative Commons Love: World Bank Photo Collection
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