While the Constitution of Sri Lanka does not provide free education as a fundamental right, the constitution mentions that 'the complete eradication of illiteracy and the assurance to all persons of the right to universal and equal access to education at all levels" in its section on directive principles of state policy at (27(2)(H).

Sri Lanka's population had an adult literacy rate of 96.3% in 2015, which is above average by world and regional standards.

[note 1] Education plays a major part in the life and culture of the country, which dates back to 543 BC.

The aim of the institute is to "provide leadership for the development of general education with quality, equity and relevance in a pluralistic society".

Evidence of this system is found on the Mahawamsa and Dipavamsa, the Chronicle of Lanka that deals with the history of the island from the arrival of Prince Vijaya and his followers in the 6th century BC.

[7] With the outset of the colonial expansion on the island, first in the coastal provinces and then interior, Christian missionary societies become active in education.

The monopoly of Christian missionaries in education ended following the Colebrooke Commission set up by the British administration.

The education in vernacular schools was largely free due to government grants to cover the cost of teaching and local philanthropists providing the buildings, equipment and the books.

In 1938 the education system in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was made formally free following the granting of universal franchise in 1931.

Under this initiative the government established Madhya Maha Vidyalayas (MMV, Central Colleges) that were scattered around the island to provide education to all.

During the late 20th century, Hindu revival leaders began showing interest in establishing schools that emphasized Saiva values while also offering instruction in English.

[12] The organization continued to enhance the provision of Hindu education in the Tamil regions of the country, which were under colonial influence.

[13] The society remains active today, continuing its mission to promote Hindu education in the surrounding communities.

However, the established schools who had their origins in the colonial era dominate social life in Sri Lanka mainly due networks of old boys and old girls.

[16] The post-independence era saw the establishment of secular multi-religious schools, such as D. S. Senanayake College for boys and Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya for girls.

According to the Sri Lankan law, it is compulsory that all children go to school till grade 9 (age 14) at which point they can choose to continue their education or drop out and engage in apprenticeship for a job or farming.

There has been a considerable increase in the number of private schools in Sri Lanka, due to the emergence of the upper-middle class during the colonial era.

As of 2013, there are 205 madrasas registered under the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs providing Islamic education in Sri Lanka.

[21] These have been built and maintained by independent Islamic foundations such as All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and the Thareeqathul Aroosiyyathil Qaadhiriyyah Association in Sri Lanka which propagate Sunnah wal Jamaah.

There are quite a few semi-government schools in Sri Lanka that are run as a government-private collaboration, where the government provides the textbooks, uniforms, and other facilities such as the ability to sit for national exams and the government-paid teachers.

These Private Educational Institutes or Tuition Centers are concentrated in Major cities of Sri Lanka: Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Negombo, Kurunegala, Kandy, Galle, Matara, Tangalle, Kegalle, Badulla and Ratnapura.

and local (such as ICASL, SLIM) or do studies at vocational technical colleges that specialize in mechanical and electronic subjects.

[28] Still, there are unemployed graduates in Sri Lanka, except in the fields of medicine, information technology, commerce, law and engineering disciplines.

Many claim that if state university graduates are unemployed or causes brain drain that is because of limited exposure in the country for the degrees they have.

In recent years this has become a reason for students who do not attend state universities to prefer going abroad or study at other institutes and professional bodies.

Most of these courses are held at community centres and they cover a wide range of fields such as dressmaking, beauty culture, hairdressing, stitching, carpentry, plumbing, painting and so on.

Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission monitors the registration of private course providers in the development of the sector.

However the demand for higher education has created several private institutions that conduct courses for degrees in foreign universities, these are not regulated or evaluated for proper standards by the government or independent organizations.

The government sited the need for residential three-week training to increase employability thus reducing the high graduate unemployment in state universities.

[31][32][33] However, shortly after the 2015 presidential election, the president at the time, Maithripala Sirisena along with the Sri Lankan Parliament put an end to this training in 2015.