Compulsory schooling till 16, Govt.’s aim

The Government aims to raise the compulsory age for education to 5-16 years by 2010, from the present requirement of 5-14 years, according to the 10 year development plan for the education sector.

Several areas in the general education sector have been identified for improvement after taking into consideration indicators which show that even though primary school enrolment is as high as 96 per cent, 50 per cent of students drop out after Grade 11, 47 per cent of students who sit the Ordinary Level exam don’t pass it and 17 per cent do not complete their compulsory education.

Increasing the success rate at the O/Ls and extending science education which is now limited to 25 per cent of the over 9700 schools in the country are other aims of the development plan.