SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION
LEARNING COMES UNDER SIEGE
Fazmina Imamudeen laments the deterioration of schooling due to crises
Since 2020, the education of Sri Lankan children has taken place under conditions of sustained disruption. What initially appeared to be a temporary interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic gradually evolved into a prolonged period of instability shaped by overlapping health, economic, institutional and environmental crises.
The closure of schools during the pandemic marked the first and most extensive interruption. Between 2020 and 2022, students experienced prolonged periods without regular in-person instruction.
UNICEF estimates that children lost close to a year of classroom based learning. While emergency measures sought to maintain continuity through online and distance learning, access to these alternatives was uneven.
National assessments documented major disparities in digital access with students in rural areas, estate communities and lower income households facing persistent barriers to participation. For many, learning during this period was irregular, fragmented or absent altogether.
And the reopening of schools didn’t restore stability.
In 2022, the economic crisis affected the smooth functioning of our education system. Fuel shortages disrupted transport services, and reduced attendance by students and teachers alike.
Academic calendars were repeatedly adjusted, examinations postponed and instructional time reduced. Household level data shows that families curtailed spending on food, tuition and educational material – issues that had immediate consequences on student attendance, concentration and retention.
Older students, particularly those approaching national examinations, faced growing uncertainty as education competed with household economic pressures. Institutional instability within the education sector compounded these challenges.
In 2024, unresolved salary anomalies prompted teachers’ and principals’ trade unions to engage in labour action, including work to rule campaigns and coordinated sick leave protests.
While schools formally remained open, reduced staff availability and the suspension of non-teaching duties disrupted normal academic routines. At a secondary level, where continuity is essential for syllabus completion and exam preparation, these interruptions contributed to delays in assessment schedules – and they heightened uncertainty for students preparing for GCE O-Level and A-Level examinations.
What’s more, environmental disruptions intensified an already fragile system.
According to UNICEF estimates, climate related school closures due to flooding and landslides affected hundreds of thousands of students, in 2023 and 2024.
Cyclone Ditwah led to a serious escalation of the issues at hand: severe flooding damaged school infrastructure across multiple provinces, displaced families and necessitated the use of school buildings as emergency shelters.
Ministry of Education data indicates that although most schools reopened within weeks, over 100 remained closed well into the academic term in the worst affected districts. In response, exams for several grades were cancelled or modified, further compressing instructional time and weakening assessment continuity.
The cumulative effect of these disruptions extends beyond the quantifiable loss of school days. Repeated interruptions have undermined the continuity that’s essential for effective learning, particularly in the early years where foundational skills in literacy and numeracy are established.
At a secondary level, prolonged uncertainty has affected academic progression, exam preparedness and student engagement. Teachers have been required to address learning loss while navigating compressed syllabi, altered calendars and ongoing institutional pressures.
National and international assessments conducted in the post-pandemic period reflect the consequences of this prolonged instability, with evidence of declining learning outcomes and widening disparities between socioeconomic groups.
Students with access to private tuition and digital resources have been better positioned to mitigate these disruptions while those without such support have experienced compounded disadvantages.
The period from COVID-19 to Cyclone Ditwah illustrates the extent to which education in Sri Lanka has been shaped by overlapping crises rather than isolated shocks.
For a generation of children, schooling has been characterised by interruptions rather than continuity. The task ahead isn’t to restore a past normal but build conditions under which learning can persist… even when stability can’t be assumed.
