Abstract:
Poverty in Sri Lanka continues to be a growing problem. Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Otherwise poverty is a denial of choice and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. Poverty is two ways. Those are absolute poverty and relative poverty. Most of the people who live in rural areas are vulnerable for poverty. Therefore, rural poverty is higher than the other sectors of poverty in Sri Lanka. Rural poverty refers to poverty found in rural areas, including factors of rural society, rural economy and rural political system that give rise to the poverty found there. There is a clear relationship between the poverty and education. Educational attainment universally considered a pre-condition for better living. There is an inverse relationship between education and poverty. So that education level affects to increase unemployment in rural society.
This research has a number of objectives. Identifying rural poverty and reason for poverty, relationship between poverty and education, solution for poverty are among them. This research uses both primary and secondary data. One hundred families were used as a random sample in Kegalle district. Indirect observations, interviews, questionnaires were the main sources of primary data and books, magazines, newspaper articles, internet websites were secondary data sources.
Findings of the research suggest that rural poverty is decreasing with higher education and provide basis for planners, policy makers and government officials to give high priority for developing rural education.