World Bank2014-01-102014-01-102013-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16561Most developing countries following independence opted for strong central control and direction of the education system, partly because of limited resources and the need to plan carefully and partly because of a felt need to create a sense of national unity among diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. This meant that key areas of control and decision making, such as management of resources and personnel, curriculum, evaluation of performance, and accountability, were under central rather than local control. The empowerment of schools has two major components: school-based management and the involvement of parents and communities in the work of schools. The emphasis given to one or other of these components depends on general national policy, local traditions, and context, with the result that almost every system is unique when one considers who makes decisions, the actual decisions that are made, the nature of those decisions, the level at which they are made, and relationships between levels. Thus, there are 'strong' and 'weak' versions of school empowerment. In some, only a single area of autonomy is granted to schools, while in others the community management of schools, even the establishment of schools, is encouraged (World Bank, 2007). In this paper, the author will briefly outline the history of school empowerment in Sri Lanka with particular reference to the Program for School Improvement (PSI), which commenced in 2006. The final section of the paper contains suggestions designed to strengthen process of empowering Sri Lankan schools and improving education outcomes.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTACCESS TO LEARNINGADULTSASSESSING STUDENTASSESSMENT OF ACHIEVEMENTATTENDANCE OF PUPILSATTENDANCE RATESBUSINESS STUDIESCENTRALLY DETERMINED FRAMEWORKCLASSROOMCLASSROOM ASSISTANTSCLASSROOM LEVELCOGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENTCOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCORE CURRICULUMCRITICAL THINKINGCULTURAL NEEDSCURRICULAR ACTIVITIESCURRICULUMDECISION MAKINGDEMOCRATIZATIONDROPOUT RATESEDUCATION AUTHORITIESEDUCATION DIVISIONSEDUCATION FOR ALLEDUCATION IMPROVEMENTEDUCATION INSTITUTIONSEDUCATION MANAGEMENTEDUCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSEDUCATION OF CHILDRENEDUCATION OFFICIALSEDUCATION OUTCOMESEDUCATION POLICIESEDUCATION QUALITYEDUCATION REFORMEDUCATION REFORMSEDUCATION SECTOREDUCATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENTEDUCATION SERVICESEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIESEDUCATIONAL CHANGEEDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATIONEDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCEEDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENTEDUCATIONAL MATERIALSEDUCATIONAL OUTCOMESEDUCATIONAL PLANNERSEDUCATIONAL PLANNINGEDUCATIONAL POLICYEDUCATIONAL RESEARCHEDUCATIONAL REVIEWEFFECTIVE EDUCATIONEFFECTIVE SCHOOLSELEMENTARY SCHOOLEMPLOYMENTEVALUATION OF EDUCATIONEXPENDITURESFORMULA FUNDINGFULL PARTICIPATIONGENERAL EDUCATIONGENERIC SKILLSHIGHER EDUCATIONHOME INSTRUCTIONHOMEWORKHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESIMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIESINSTRUCTIONINSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIESINTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTINTERVENTIONSLEADERSHIPLEARNING COMMUNITIESLEARNING OUTCOMESLEARNING PROCESSLECTURESLIFE SKILLSLINGUISTIC GROUPSLITERACYLITERATUREMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMOVEMENTNATIONAL ASSESSMENTNATIONAL EDUCATIONNATIONAL EDUCATION POLICYNUTRITIONPAPERSPARENT ASSOCIATIONSPARENT INVOLVEMENTPARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATIONPARENTAL EDUCATIONPARENTAL INVOLVEMENTPARTICIPATION IN SCHOOLSPARTICIPATION OF PARENTSPARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATIONPEDAGOGYPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTSPROBLEM SOLVINGPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROFICIENCYPROVINCIAL EDUCATIONPROVISION OF EDUCATIONPUBLIC EXPENDITUREQUALITY ASSURANCEQUALITY SCHOOLSREADINGREPETITIONREPETITION RATESRURAL SCHOOLSSAFETYSCHOLASTIC PERFORMANCESCHOOL ACTIVITIESSCHOOL AUTONOMYSCHOOL BOARDSSCHOOL CALENDARSCHOOL COMMITTEESSCHOOL COMMUNITYSCHOOL DECISIONSCHOOL DEVELOPMENTSCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEESCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEESSCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLANSCHOOL DROPOUTSCHOOL EDUCATIONSCHOOL EFFECTIVENESSSCHOOL EFFICIENCYSCHOOL EXPERIENCESCHOOL GOVERNANCESCHOOL IMPROVEMENTSCHOOL LEARNINGSCHOOL LEVELSCHOOL LEVELSSCHOOL MANAGEMENTSCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEESCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEESSCHOOL PERSONNELSCHOOL POLICIESSCHOOL PRINCIPALSSCHOOL PROGRAMSSCHOOL REFORMSCHOOL SIZESCHOOL STAFFSCHOOL SYSTEMSCHOOL TEACHERSSCHOOLINGSCHOOLING ACCESSSCHOOLSSCHOOL­LEVELSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTSMALL SCHOOLSSOCIAL COHESIONSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL GROUPSSOCIETYSPECIAL EDUCATIONSPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDSSPECIAL NEEDSSTANDARDIZED TESTSSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSSTUDENT LEARNINGSTUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESSTUDENT PERFORMANCESTUDENTS WITH DISABILITIESSYLLABUSESTEACHERTEACHER BEHAVIORTEACHER DEVELOPMENTTEACHER PARTICIPATIONTEACHER PERFORMANCETEACHERSTEACHINGTEACHING METHODSTEACHING-LEARNINGTEST SCORESTEXTBOOKSURBAN EDUCATIONWorld Bank10.1596/16561