Business

Rising School Dropouts: The Plight of Estate Children in Sri Lanka

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/18

By Himani Vithanage

Although Sri Lanka has performed well in basic education indicators such as a high literacy rate and near-universal participation in primary and secondary schooling, there are striking disparities across regions in the country. Specifically, the education performance of the estate sector consisting of plantation communities is dismal, with a high level of school dropouts. Based on a study carried out by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), this blog discusses the issue of school dropouts in the estate sector and how prolonged school closures following the COVID-19 outbreak and the ongoing economic crisis have increased school dropouts in estate regions.

School Dropouts in the Estate Sector

A sector-wise comparison of school dropouts prior to the COVID-19 outbreak reveals the estate sector to have the highest percentage of dropouts in all three levels of education – primary, secondary and collegiate – with the percentage rising as the level of education advances from primary to the collegiate level, as observable from figure 1. As such, approximately 4% of primary, 20% of secondary, and 26% of collegiate students had dropped out of school in the estate sector. In contrast, the corresponding rates in urban and rural sectors are much lower, reflecting the disparity across sectors.

Although Sri Lanka’s primary education is almost universalised, the estate sector is lagging. Around 13% of all school dropouts in the estate sector are from primary grades, suggesting that a considerable proportion of dropouts in the region may not even have completed their primary level of education, which is an issue of concern. The high percentage of dropouts beyond primary level could be attributed mainly to the fact that many schools in estates are Type 3 schools with only primary grades, which discourages many estate children from advancing into lower secondary grades as they have to enrol into schools far away from the estates. For instance, in Nuwara Eliya district, which has one of the largest estate sectors in the country, 50.2% of schools are Type 3 schools (School Census, 2020), which influences many children to drop out of school after completing their primary education due to the lack of schools with higher grades in the region.

Given the high level of school dropouts in the estate sector, the IPS study identifies estate children in higher grades, those from extended family households, those from indebted households, those from low-income households, whose fathers have low education qualifications, whose mothers live away from home (abroad or outstation), those who spend more time on housekeeping activities, and those who engage in economic activities to be more likely to drop out of school.

Impact of Child Labour on School Dropouts in the Estate Sector

Notably, the prevalence of child labour in a community is revealed to significantly impact estate children dropping out of school. While those considered under child labour are children within the age group 5-17, the finding that around 58% of estate sector school dropouts in this age group engage in or seek to engage in economic activities indicates how child labour influences estate children to drop out of school.

While Sri Lanka is committed to attaining the goal of zero child labour by 2025, as set in the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, eliminating child labour would solve this issue of school dropouts to a certain extent. However, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, along with the ongoing economic crisis in the country, this goal of eliminating child labour by 2025 has become even more challenging. Evidence suggests that the number of children engaging in economic activities has increased significantly in these estate regions after the pandemic that led to prolonged school closures.

School Dropouts after COVID-19

“There were 56 O-Level students in our school, but when school reopened after the pandemic, only 36 students returned to school. The remaining 20 students were found to be doing jobs. So, we teachers had to go from house to house to meet their parents, and we could only persuade the parents of six students to send them back to school while the others dropped out and continued to do jobs. There were similar cases in grades 6-10 as well.” – School teacher in the estate sector

During pandemic school closures, online classes were the main mode of education for estate children despite it not being viable among them. As such, the lack of access to devices (smartphones, laptops etc.), signal and network coverage issues, along with the financial difficulties they faced, have hindered many children in plantation communities from attending online classes. Concerningly, there is evidence that a segment of those students that had no/low attendance for online classes during that period continue not to attend school even though schools are now reopened and that such students have either dropped out or are currently at the risk of dropping out of school.

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Business

Salesforce Startup Program targets Sri Lanka’s high-growth tech sector

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

Bhattacharya (L) and Madusanka at the launch

Salesforce, the world’s leading AI-powered CRM platform, is set to expand its presence in Sri Lanka with the launch of the Salesforce Startup Program by the end of January 2026, signalling growing confidence in the country’s technology-led growth potential.

The move comes as Sri Lanka consolidates its position as the second-largest startup ecosystem in South Asia after India, with software, data and artificial intelligence-driven ventures accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the national startup base.

Industry observers say this concentration places Sri Lanka at a decisive stage where global exposure and enterprise access could unlock the next phase of scale.

Under the programme, Sri Lankan startups will gain access to Salesforce’s global ecosystem, including AI-powered platforms, business and technical mentorship, joint go-to-market opportunities and connections to enterprise customers, enabling founders to build globally competitive solutions from Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka has developed a strong base of technical talent and entrepreneurial ambition that is increasingly visible regionally and globally,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Salesforce South Asia.

“Through the Salesforce Startup Program, we aim to help startups move beyond early momentum to global relevance while delivering long-term economic impact,” he added.

He also said the initiative builds on the success of its Startup Program in India and Singapore, which today supports over 435 startups, including more than 230 AI-first companies. Several participants have expanded across Asia and beyond by building products natively on the Salesforce platform.

Responding to queries, he said Sri Lanka is also emerging as an important enterprise market for Salesforce, with major corporates such as John Keells Holdings and Cinnamon Hotels adopting the platform to modernise customer engagement, sales, marketing and loyalty management operations.

In parallel, Salesforce is strengthening the country’s digital talent pipeline through its Trailhead learning ecosystem, with plans to skill nearly 1,000 learners over the next year via local workforce development partners and community-led cohorts.

Chamil Madusanka, Head of Salesforce Practice and Salesforce Architect, said the programme arrives at a critical juncture for Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem.

“Sri Lankan founders are increasingly building AI, data and enterprise software solutions with global relevance,” Madusanka told The Island Financial Review.

“What many startups need is structured access to enterprise customers, global mentorship and market exposure. This initiative creates that bridge, enabling local companies to scale faster while remaining rooted in Sri Lanka.”

He said the Startup Program is designed to act as a connective platform, bringing together startups, enterprises, technology partners, universities and developer communities to accelerate collaboration and innovation.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️

Business

Good news on risen foreign reserves exerts buoyant impact on bourse

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

CSE activities were extremely bullish yesterday following Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe’s announcement that Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves had risen to US $ 6.8 billion in December 2025, up US$ 791 million from November 2025.

The Governor provided the estimated economic growth while announcing the Central Bank’s policy agenda for this year.

In December Sri Lanka received budget support loans from the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe

Amid these developments both CSE indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 226.81 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 100.01 points. Turnover stood at Rs 12.3 billion with 12 crossings.

Top seven crossings that mainly contributed to the turnover were: Lee Hedges 18.2 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 3.9 billion; its shares traded at Rs 416, Commercial Bank 2.1 million shares crossed for Rs 467.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 215, Ceylon Hotels 429,000 shares crossed for Rs 128.7 million; its shares traded at Rs 300, LB Finance 650,000 shares crossed for Rs 105 million; its shares sold at Rs 152.50, Ceylinco Holdings 31000 shares crossed for Rs 104.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 3400, Melstacorp 200,000 shares crossed tfor Rs 35.7 million; its shares sold at Rs 178.50 and Three Acres Farm 400,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 29.6 million; its shares fetched Rs 740.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Wealth Trust Securities Rs 1.17 billion (55.8 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 509 million (2.4 million shares traded), HNB Rs 370 million (870,000 shares traded), ACL Cables Rs 303 million (three million shares traded), Prime Lands Residencies Rs 283 million (7.9 million shares traded), Lanka Realty Rs 227.5 million (4.7 million shares traded) and HNB Rs 218 million (332,000 shares traded). During the day 223.7 million share volumes changed hands in 55116 transactions.

Yesterday, investor interest in Wealth Trust and banking stocks led to higher activity levels, brokers said. Further, the real estate sector also performed well. Lanka Realty Investments PLC acquired 51 percent of the total number of shares in issue of Lee Hedges, CSE sources said. 13,057,595 ordinary voting shares were bought at Rs 216 each.

Yesterday the rupee opened at Rs 310.12/18 to the US dollar in the spot market, weaker from Rs 310.05/15 the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields opened marginally high.

By Hiran H Senewiratne ✍️

Business

Launch of monograph ‘Development: Not By Economics Alone’

Published

17 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The Gamani Corea Foundation (GCF) is pleased to announce the launch of the monograph Development: Not By Economics Alone by Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Emeritus Chairperson of the Foundation. The foreword to the publication has been written by Dr. Godfrey Gunatilleke, one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent development economists. The launch ceremony will be held on Friday, 9th January 2026, at 4.00 p.m. at the Horton Lodge.

In this monograph, Dr. Sanderatne argues that development cannot be understood through economic indicators alone. He emphasizes that the quality of human capital depends not only on knowledge and skills acquired through formal education, but also on deeper, non-formal processes embedded in a society’s culture and value systems. These influence human behaviour, shaping work ethics, attitudes to work and leisure, capacity for teamwork, preferences between short- and long-term goals, and patterns of saving and consumption.

Dr. Sanderatne is a distinguished economist and academic, holding degrees from the Universities of London, Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin, and was conferred the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Peradeniya in 2004.