Sri Lanka has underinvested in higher education and research for decades: PM

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya says that Sri Lanka’s strong educational foundation has not translated into a leading, innovative, sustainable, resilient state or society, as the country has underinvested in higher education and research for decades. 

Dr. Amarasuriya participated in the Serendipity Knowledge program, ‘Innovation for Economic Transformation organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today (June 19) at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo. 

The “Serendipity Knowledge Program” (SKOP) is ADB’s knowledge program dedicated to sharing knowledge on issues relevant to Sri Lanka, alongside catalysing a long-term engagement among the government, international experts, and other stakeholders to support strengthening the national innovation ecosystem.

Delivering opening remarks, the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasised the need for innovation for overcoming economic crisis and the middle-income economic trap and noted that the government is committed to setting the policy directions, partnering effectively with the private sector and promoting innovation by active involvement throughout the innovation chain.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister stated that even though Sri Lanka has a strong foundation for innovation, there is a disconnect, resulting in Sri Lanka ranked 89th out of 113 countries in the Global Innovation Index 2024. 

She stated that for decades, there has been an underinvested attention drawn to higher education and research. Hence, the gross expenditure on research and development is just 0.1% of GDP.

“Why has our strong educational foundation not translated into a leading, innovative, sustainable, resilient state or society? The answer lies in our investment choices. For decades, we have underinvested in higher education and research,” the PM said.

“Our gross expenditure on research and development is just 0.1% of GDP. Most of our public spending on education has gone to general education, and that’s fair enough. We have to ensure education for all, primarily for the formative years of the first 13 years of schooling.”

However, she stated that despite this heavy investment and attention on general education, a highly unequal educational landscape has been created in the country where there are “a few schools of high quality and many schools that offer a low-quality teaching-learning experience.” 

“Now, how did we get to that, despite our heavy investment in education? Not only does this mean that our system has become unnecessarily competitive, our education system, and too exam-focused, it has also meant that our educational opportunities, our quality educational opportunities, have become limited.” 

She added that this has then impacted the quality of the country’s higher education, universities, and investment in research, development, and innovation.

The Prime Minister further said: 

“I believe that this situation has been created because for years our policy has been based on a series of unexamined assumptions, which I think we need to really re-examine and re-imagine. For instance, if I consider just a couple of those assumptions that we have long taken for granted, our education policy, when it even comes to general education or our investment in higher education, just takes for granted statements such as this. We produce too many arts and humanities graduates.”

“Our graduates are unemployable. And why are they unemployable? These are assumptions, okay? Why are they unemployable? Because they lack soft skills in English. Education is a private investment.”

She stated that the incumbent government is committed to changing this trajectory, increasing funding for research and development, and investing strategically in higher education.

The event was attended by the Country Director of Sri Lanka Resident Mission ADB, Takafumi Kadono, Secretary to the Prime Minister, G. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education, Education and Vocational Education, Nalaka Kaluwewe, and officials and Faculty members representing the Universities of Sri Lanka.