Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
The official entrance age to pre-primary education is three. Free pre-primary education is not granted in legal frameworks. Compulsory pre-primary education is not granted in legal frameworks. The net enrolment rate for pre-primary for both sexes increased from 29.08 in 2010 to 45.00 in 2023.
Governance
Responsibility for financing pre-primary education in Sri Lanka is distributed across multiple government authorities, with most government expenditure channelled through the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Provincial Councils.
Under the 1987 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, responsibility for pre-primary education was devolved to Provincial Councils, which retain the authority to supervise, manage, and regulate preschools through Provincial Regulatory Authorities. The Provincial Councils operate under provincial statutes that govern registration, minimum standards, and administrative procedures for preschools. They are also responsible for allocating provincial-level budgets to support preschool services within their territories.
At the national level, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs (MWCA) holds primary policy and coordination responsibility for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), which encompasses pre-primary education. The MWCA’s National Secretariat for Early Childhood Development (NSECD), established in 1979, is mandated to formulate ECCD policies, coordinate programmes, and oversee national-level initiatives related to preschool education. The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education also plays a role in pre-primary policy coordination through the National Education Commission (NEC), which, under Act No. 19 of 1991, is mandated to formulate national pre-primary education policy.
Tuition-free status
Free pre-primary education is not granted in legal frameworks.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Sri Lanka lacks a comprehensive intergovernmental transfer system for pre-primary education. Although the 1987 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution devolved pre-primary education authority to Provincial Councils, the councils do not receive earmarked or formula-driven national grants specifically for pre-primary financing. Provincial funding for early childhood services is instead drawn primarily from general provincial budgets.
2. Education resources to institutions
The pre-primary education sector in Sri Lanka operates predominantly through private for-profit and community-based provision, with only around 20% of institutions managed by the public sector or local government authorities. These institutions’ recurrent budgets are primarily financed through provincial general budgets. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, through the Children’s Secretariat, provides grants to registered early childhood development centres to improve facilities, purchase furniture, and procure teaching and learning materials. These grants prioritise centres in poor, remote, and underserved areas.
Proposed reforms under the 2019 National Policy on Preschool Education and the National Education Policy Framework (2023-2033) call for transitioning to "adequate and sustained public investment" at the pre-primary level through per-student funding formulas with equity adjustments for facility conditions, rural location, and disadvantaged student populations.
3. Education resources to students and families
At the time of writing, there are no state-administered subsidies, vouchers, or tax credits provided directly to parents to offset preschool fees. Equity-oriented household scholarships for pre-primary have been implemented within the World Bank–financed Early Childhood Development Project, which piloted tuition-fee waivers for poor households in selected ECD centres.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Sri Lanka’s main national cash transfer scheme, Aswesuma, provides income support to low-income households through poverty targeting. The programme helps families meet basic consumption needs and, in some cases, cover preschool fees. Introduced in 2023, Aswesuma uses a targeted approach to ensure that cash transfers reach the most vulnerable households. Eligibility under Aswesuma is determined using 22 indicators across six dimensions: education, health, economic status, housing conditions, family demographics, and asset ownership. Based on the assessed severity of poverty, beneficiaries receive monthly cash transfers for periods ranging from six months to three years.
Aswesuma replaced the Samurdhi Programme, a long-standing poverty alleviation initiative launched in 1995 and administered by the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment through the Department of Samurdhi Development. Samurdhi was designed to reduce poverty through public participation in development and combined cash transfers with savings and credit schemes delivered through Samurdhi banks, as well as broader social development initiatives.
