Abstract

This empirical study examined the impact of social protection programs in reducing inequality in education in Sri Lanka. In the present study, information was collected from 378 randomly selected households with a total of 536 children of school age. Data collection was done through a structured questionnaire, while the selection of the sample was carried out using a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques. Selection was done on purpose, based on two criteria: the poverty ratio and the percentage of informal sector workers. Districts such as Colombo, Nuwara-Eliya, Batticaloa, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, and Rathnapura were selected along with all their Divisional Secretariat divisions and Grama Niladhari divisions. Households from within these areas were selected randomly. It includes social protection programs supporting education with free school uniforms, textbooks, stationery, scholarships, mid-day meals, and milk. The present study identified the use of the Propensity Score Matching technique to identify the impact of social protection programs on reducing educational inequality. The key findings revealed that students who received at least one form of social protection had over a 13 per cent higher probability of attending school frequently when compared with a student who received no social protection. It can be concluded from this that social protection programs ensure regular attendance in school among students who experience a multitude of disadvantages and, therefore, reduce educational inequality. Based on these findings, the research recommends introducing a school-funded scholarship program that would increase the capacity of poor households and promote current social protection programs more efficiently to suit the differing needs of disadvantaged students.

Keywords: Education system, Impact Evaluation, Reducing Inequality in Education, Social protection programs in Sri Lanka