Sri Lanka has already reached
gender equality in primary and secondary education.
Gender disparities in universities, in well paid and
high status jobs and in the political life must be addressed
in order to Sri Lanka to achieve this goal.
The literacy rate amongst Sri Lankan
women is high. Girls from most socio-economic groups
have access to education and more girls than boys continue
into senior secondary school. Access to education for
girls appears to be affected by economic rather than
gender constraints.
In 2001/2, 53.8% of all university
entrants were women. However, almost twice as
many women need to enrol for and complete higher education,
for Sri Lanka, to accomplish Target 4 fully.
Sri Lankan women have a relatively higher status than
those in other developing countries, but still lack
parity in legal rights, in the workplace (with glass
ceiling stopping their promotion to highly paid and
managerial positions) and at decision-making levels.
Since the parliament was instituted in 1942, only 56
women have represented their constituencies and only
a few have held ministerial portfolios. |
