Educational level in Sri Lanka is at a high level among developing countries; however, the country is facing numerous challenges including the recent civil war, economic difficulties, and expansion of wealth and poverty gap, which have become critical factors hindering the development of the country. Additionally, because Sri Lanka is a multinational and multi-religious country, strengthening basic education is a top priority to ensure social harmony and economic stability. Especially for science and mathematics education, the demand for quality improvement has been increasing as it is a part of human resource development, which is the basis of industry growth in the country.Based on this background, the development survey was conducted by JICA for about two years from 2002. The survey’s problem analysis has indicated that there are problems not only with the educational areas but also with inefficient school management.
This project targets five zones in three provinces in Sri Lanka and is aimed at strengthening the capability of local education administrators who contribute to improvement of the quality of science and mathematics education. It also aims for establishment of a driving force system that allows certain implementation of educational improvement activities at the school level supported by the administrators. Specifically, the expected outcomes of this project include management capability improvement so that each school will have the capability to resolve problems by itself, and awareness improvement about education and school administration among teachers, children, parents and local residents.
