Status of Education in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka boasts a literacy rate of nearly 91 percent (men: 93 percent, women: 89 percent). The government supports free education up to and including university level studies. With English being given increased attention in the Sri Lankan public school system over the past decade and particularly with the declaration by the government that 2009 is the year of English Language and Information Communication Technology, demand for quality English-language texts for school-aged children has surged. English is also recognized as a crucial common tongue to facilitate communication between ethnic groups locked in violent struggle.
Current Focus
Books for Asia Sri Lanka annually distributes over 125,000 new books donated by American publishers to more than 1,200 institutions in all parts of the island, including secondary schools, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, public libraries, universities, and primary schools. The Books for Asia program strongly supports local efforts to create open access libraries and schools with rich resources for English language development. The program is currently focused on providing books to schools and libraries in the northern provinces as part of the reconstruction effort following the recently concluded civil war, and it continues to support areas that were devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Books for Asia provides books on conflict resolution, access to justice, and human rights to local organizations supported by The Asia Foundation.
Read more about The Asia Foundation's work in Sri Lanka.
Project and Partner Highlights
Post-War Recovery. Books for Asia is working with the Methodist Church Sri Lanka to expand the program to 900 more schools in the northern provinces, the area hardest hit by the decades-long conflict.
Mobile Libraries. In partnership with the AIG Disaster Relief Fund, Give2Asia, and local authorities, Books for Asia is supplying books to four mobile libraries serving communities in Sri Lanka's southern coastal belt and Eastern Province on an ongoing basis where libraries were devastated by the December 2004 tsunami and a reported 2.5 million were displaced.
Government of Sri Lanka National Book Development Council, Ministry of Social Service and Social Welfare, and Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process. In coordination with these entities, Books for Asia is developing public and community center libraries across the island and supporting the government's efforts to improve English-based instruction in all districts.
Room to Read Sri Lanka. Books for Asia helps Room to Read ship up to 50,000 books to Sri Lanka each year that stock more than 450 libraries serving school children.
National Library and Documentation Services Board, Sri Lanka Library Association, and Organization of Professional Associations. Long term partnerships with these groups expand the number of libraries that can be reached with high quality book donations and improve the ability of recipient institutions to serve their constituencies.
Sri Lanka Telecom. Since 2002, the Books for Asia program has been partially funded by donations from the Sri Lankan private sector, led by Sri Lanka Telecom.
Major publisher donors: John Wiley & Sons, Pearson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scholastic, Lynne Rienner, W.W. Norton & Company, and Island Press.
Contact
Anton Nallathamby
Books for Asia Director
anallathamby@asiafound.org
Sharmini Nagendran
Program Officer
snagendran@asiafound.org