The Impact of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka on the Country’s International Obligations on Education

Abstract Education serves as a fundamental pillar of human rights protection in a civilised society. General Comment No 13 to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 1966 affirms that education is not only an inherent human right but also a crucial instrument for the realisation of all other rights. Since the advent of free education in Sri Lanka in 1947, the nation has maintained an impressive literacy rate of 92.5 per cent, facilitating access to education for even the most marginalised communities. However, the devolution of power through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1987 engendered a dual education system, bifurcating authority between national and provincial schools. This shift significantly curtailed the Ministry of Education’s oversight, transferring administrative control of provincial schools to regional councils. This article employs doctrinal and empirical methodologies to examine critically the ramifications of these political transformations on Sri Lanka’s international obligations in respect of education.