A total of 267,138 children dropped out of school between 2018 and 2024, Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament on Wednesday in response to a parliamentary question, Ada Derana reported.
The figures were derived from annual school census reports using an internationally recognised formula that compares enrolment with dropout rates from Grade 1 to Grade 10. The annual breakdown shows 38,839 dropouts in 2018, 41,503 in 2019, 32,540 in 2020, 25,492 in 2021, 52,596 in 2022, 50,345 in 2023 and 25,823 in 2024 — with 2022 the peak year of the seven covered.
The Prime Minister said the government does not have definitive data on school dropouts from 2010 to early 2017 and that the 2018-2024 series represents the first reliable run.
Amarasuriya noted that not every student counted as having “left the school system” had necessarily discontinued education. Some may have transferred to schools in other provinces, enrolled in international schools or migrated overseas with their families while continuing studies elsewhere — distinctions the underlying methodology cannot separately identify.
The reasons most commonly behind students leaving school, she said, are personal factors, school-related issues, family circumstances, social influences and a shift toward other educational opportunities.
The disclosure lands as the government rolls out the Grade 6 curriculum reforms scheduled to begin in January 2027, the NEMIS and e-Thaksalawa digital education platform launched on June 7 and the broader higher-education reform package floated in early May. The 2025 O/Level cohort — 451,463 candidates whose results are now due by June 15 — would have started Grade 1 in the late 2014 batch, just outside the period for which census-based dropout tracking is available.
Source: Ada Derana — Over 267,000 school dropouts recorded between 2018 and 2024, PM tells Parliament.
