Literacy & Girls' Education Nonprofit at Work in Sri Lanka

Room to Read Sri Lanka works closely with the government to facilitate our Literacy and Girls' Education programs. Our work is highly sustainable, with local communities continuing the programs once we transition to other under-resourced communities.

Room to Read launched its work in Sri Lanka in 2005 and has since established a strong, trusted presence in the country as a trusted partner to the Ministry of Education.

For the last 20 years, Room to Read has worked hand-in-hand with the government and in schools, and holds the vital role as the only nonprofit organization allowed to operate within Sri Lankan schools during school hours, to systemically improve educational outcomes. To date, Room to Read’s partnership with the government has resulted in transformative improvements in the national literacy curriculum, as well as supporting the national roll out of libraries for primary schools, and helping Sri Lanka establish the National Consortium of Children’s books, which is bringing together public and private stakeholers in developing national book standards, improving the quality of materials used in schools.

Given Room to Read’s unique role and strong relationship with the government, our work is helping shape and strengthen the entire education sector. This impact is achieved through a dual approach that both demonstrates the effectiveness of Room to Read’s literacy and gender equality programming directly in schools, while supporting Sri Lanka’s capacity and expertise to integrate evidence-driven policies, resources and curriculum nationwide.

These two modes of implementation maximize how Room to Read supports Sri Lanka’s education system from the individual student to the national level, ultimately accelerating the rate at which every child can access their right to a quality education and dignified learning experience.  

Deliver: Room to Read directly delivers its literacy and gender equality programming in schools and communities. The deliver model offers a critical opportunity to continuously test and evaluate program improvements and innovations, while also showcasing the efficacy of learning interventions to the Sri Lankan government, as well as other partners, ultimately facilitating the integration of evidence-based best practices into the entire public school system.  
Accelerate: Room to Read provides technical guidance and educational content to the Sri Lankan government (and other partners) to improve policies, curricula, education delivery mechanisms, and practices related to the implementation of Sri Lanka’s own programs. In this way, the accelerate model expedites the rate of achieving positive learning outcomes for more children, more quickly, than is possible through the deliver approach alone.