Determinants of Higher Education Non-intention of Eligible Candidates to State Universities in Sri Lanka: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

A better education system ensures inclusive, equitable and affordable learning opportunities. Access to an education system is a fundamental right of a human being. Since independence, Sri Lanka government has taken many progressive steps to improve education in its development efforts. As a result, the country has gained admirable achievements in education such as higher literacy rate i.e., 92% for adults and 97% for youths. Yet, it is impossible to evaluate the prevailing education system as “extremely well” due to some drawbacks among which “higher education non-intention” is a serious issue. The focus of this study is to find out the reasons for higher education non-intention among the students in Sri Lanka and provide policy measures to mitigate this issue. This study is mainly based on qualitative research methods. Semi structured interviews were used to collect the data. The population totally consists of respondents within the age limit of 21- 26 years in Western province and a sample of 20 respondents has been selected from snowball sampling method. Substantial descriptions were used in the data analysis. Personal and family issues, Poverty, socio-economic issues, wrong perception, student mobility and marriage are the main reasons for higher education non-intention of selected respondents in the western province.