The education system of Sri Lanka until colonial times primarily was designed for a small elite in a society with comparatively low technology. The large majority of the population was illiterate or semiliterate. Among the Sinhalese, learning was the job of Buddhist monks. At the village level, literate monks would teach privileged students in the pansal, or temple school. The curriculum there, still taught to young children, included the Sinhala alphabet and memorization of elementary Buddhist literature--the Nam potha of Buddhist shrines, the Magul lakuna -Book of Auspicious Symbols on the Buddha's body, and classic stories of the Buddha's life. The pursuit of higher education typically was reserved for men who became monks and took place at universities dedicated almost exclusively to memorization and commentary on the Pali scriptures. Among the Tamil population, village schools, which were located near temples, were run by literate Brahmans or educated Vellalas. Technical training was highly developed for students of the arts ;for engineers, who applied geometry to problems of irrigation; and for craftsmen in various trades. This training,was generally the preserve of closed corporations, castes, or families. Knowledge was often passed down from fathers to sons.

In Sri Lanka schooling is compulsory for children from 5 to 14 years of age, and it is free at all levels. In 1996 Sri Lanka had 9,554 elementary schools, of which most were government institutions. There are about 30 technical institutions and 9 universities. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Colombo, founded as the University of Ceylon in 1942 and renamed in 1978, is one of the nation’s major institutions of higher education.