The low capacity of education planners and managers in Sri Lanka has been identified as a key stumbling block to a healthy function of the system and to the achievement of reform efforts of several governments.

Many education planners assume their roles without ever receiving training. Despite their best efforts, without solid knowledge of education planning, they face continuous difficulties in performing their duties.

It became evident that filling this knowledge gap would be critical to the effective functioning of Sri Lanka’s education system.

When Sri Lanka joined the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in 2022, enhancing capacity of education planners was recurrent in discussions between the Ministry of Education and partners, including the GPE team.

Sri Lanka’s eligibility for a GPE system capacity grant offered the country an opportunity to address this challenge.

Targeted support through system capacity grant

The GPE Country Team Lead provided support to the education ministry to design a tailor-made capacity building program that caters to the entire cadre of education planners, from central to provincial and zonal levels.

Building the capacity of the entire team of education planners is essential to ensure a uniform understanding and practice of key concepts in education planning and management, thereby enabling effective system functioning and reform results.

Training only a few officials who might later move to other positions would be both costly and inefficient.

Additionally, it is crucial that the training program is tailored to Sri Lanka’s specific context and needs.

Most international programs on education planning are designed for planners in all countries, and while basic concepts from those programs are useful in Sri Lanka, such programs are too generic and need to be complemented with context-specific content.

Delivering a bespoke program

Considering these factors, the GPE Country Team Lead, Hoa Tran Ringrose, connected the Ministry of Education with the UNESCO Institute of Education Planning (IIEP).

Through discussions between the Ministry of Education, GPE, and IIEP, partners agreed on the specific support for Sri Lanka through a bespoke capacity development program addressing the topics of greatest needs in the country. This training program would be conducted in Sri Lanka, making it both cost-effective and efficient.

The first batch of nearly 80 education planners, from central to provincial and zonal institutions, has just completed a two-week full-time training. Participants learned and shared their views on:

1. Education Sector Analysis and Education sector Plan development
2. Key concepts and techniques for education sector planning
3. Methodology for the analysis of the functioning and effectiveness of an educational administration
4. Monitoring and evaluation of education sector plans – indicators, processes and roles in M&E
5. Micro planning and school mapping
6. Learning assessment and the use of data for learning assessment.

Participants also worked on various simulation exercises and the combination of lectures and group work ensured they took active part in their learning.

Satisfaction of participants

Feedback from participants at all levels has been overwhelmingly positive.

One representative of the national education ministry said: “We are very happy to have this unique opportunity to receive this useful training that helps us understand many concepts. We have been doing our work without this knowledge, and now we know a lot more, which will greatly help us in our work.”

Another participant shared: “This training will help us education planners Sri Lanka to have a uniform understanding of key concepts, enabling standard practices throughout the country”.

With the final batch of education planners completing the training in May, the education system in Sri Lanka will be considerably strengthened, ready to support the system transformation to help all children in Sri Lanka achieve better learning outcomes and realize their potential.

Following the success of this initiative, Sri Lanka will further elevate the capacity of key education personnel on leadership skills, gender hardwiring and learning assessment, with the support of the GPE system capacity grant.

The grant will make a notable contribution to strengthening the country system at this crucial juncture when Sri Lanka seeks to emerge from the recent crisis to be once again a strong education power in the region.