National school (Sri Lanka)

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A National school in Sri Lanka is a school funded and run by the central government’s Ministry of Education, not by local provincial councils. They mainly provide secondary education, and some also offer primary or collegiate years.

The program began in 1985 with 18 schools chosen as national schools. Today there are hundreds of national schools, making up about 3% of all national and provincial schools.

When provincial councils were created in 1987, most government school control moved to the provinces, except for the 18 elite national schools that remained under central control.

The way schools were chosen changed over time. At first, most national schools were in Colombo and a few other cities, and only five more were added in the next five years. In 1990 the criteria were revised, and upgrades increased a lot: 37 national schools in 1992 and 165 in 1994. By 2000 there were about 317 national schools nationwide.

In 2003, the National Education Commission said the strict original criteria had become meaningless because many new schools were added that did not fit them. Different reports over time show varying numbers of national schools, sometimes listed as 353 or 396, including some that lack certain features (such as science at the A-Level) or only offer O-Level classes.