Colombo: Around 20,000 students drop out of school in Sri Lanka every year, said Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on Monday.
Addressing an event on the government's proposed education reforms, Amarasuriya, who is also the education minister, said that based on the latest data, approximately 80,000 students do not attend school regularly.
There are 10,096 schools across the country, and about 300,000 children are newly enrolled in schools each year, Amarasuriya said.
However, there are deep disparities in resources between a handful of elite schools in major cities and the rest, she said.
The prime minister said that the government plans to reduce dropout rates and close the gap in resource allocation through the upcoming reforms and future state budgets.
Sri Lanka has roughly 4 million students enrolled in its public school system. The government is preparing to implement comprehensive reforms to the education system in 2026.
