The Constitution of Sri Lanka stipulates that education is a fundamental right. The population has achieved a literacy rate of 98.1%. From the time of the Kannangara Reforms in the 1940s, education at all levels has been primarily funded and administered by the government. The public school network has an enrolment of about four million students in over 10,000 schools across the nation. At tertiary level, there are 15 state universities.

In the early years after independence, it was generally accepted that the government’s role was limited to providing defence, national security, revenue collection and a few other basic services. In sectors such as education and health, employment was provided both by the government and the private sector. From the late 1950s a combination of a severe decline in the terms of trade and the inappropriate economic policies of successive governments resulted in low investment and slow growth making it difficult for the economy to absorb the increasing numbers of youth leaving school or graduating from universities. The increasingly statist response to these pressures led to the government becoming more directly involved in employment creation. The 1971 Insurrection also generated political pressures which gave added momentum to the government’s role in this regard.

The long-term prospect of our agricultural sector is severely constrained by extreme inefficiencies in both markets and public policies. This casts a very heavy burden on all Sri Lankans, particularly the poor and vulnerable. Many of the latter include members of our rural population who are trapped in an unsatisfactory status quo of low-productivity, low-income agricultural activity. This latest Pathfinder Foundation Election Myth Buster seeks to demonstrate how this unwarranted reliance on subsidies and administered prices imposes a heavy burden on the entire population and serves as a drag on the development prospects of our economy and nation.

සහනාධාර සහ දීමනා මගින් ජනතාවට කිසිදු බරක් නොපැටවේ

With growth resilient and progress made in the pursuit of high-quality development, economic confidence remains positive in China.In the second quarter, business confidence among Chinese entrepreneurs continued to improve, according to a central bank survey. The entrepreneur confidence index climbed for the ninth straight quarter, rising to 75.8 from 74.2 in the first quarter.The business climate index for Q2 held steady at 58.5 percent, 3.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year, the central bank said.Optimism has spread among officials and economists."China has the conditions and capability to fulfill the annual target set at the beginning of the year and ensure the stable and long-term growth of the economy," said a National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official.