Opening Literacy Programs, Closing the Gender Gap

Room to Read introduced our Literacy Program in Sri Lanka in 2005 – one year earlier than initially planned – in response to the devastating 2004 tsunami. We have since worked in seven of the country’s nine provinces.

In 2006, we also supported the start of our Girls’ Education Program in an effort to close the gender gap in certain provinces. We have had significant success not only improving the quality of instruction, but also the accessibility of education for more than a million children nationwide. In 2009, when the Civil War officially ended, Room to Read quickly initiated the creation of programs in the Mannar District of the Northern Province, where much destruction took place. We worked closely with the government to improve infrastructure, access to educational resources and educational opportunities in the region.

Supporting Systems-Level Change

Thanks to our partnership with the Sri Lankan government, we have witnessed systems-level change. Most recently, we supported the government of Sri Lanka in developing a Teacher’s Guide for their national Reading Room initiative. With our guidance and feedback, the Teacher’s Guide has been finalized, and it will be piloted in 700 primary schools in 2020.