BY HUZEFA ALIASGER  Courtesy The Daily Mirror

As many as 42 per cent of all employed Sri Lankans in the public and private sectors have educational qualification levels only up to grade 10, and only 26.7 per cent of people have qualifications above Advanced Levels, according to the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).

This statistic is relatively high compared to the European Union (EU), with only 15 per cent of the employed population having a low educational qualification level.

The DCS, in its labour force report for the first quarter of 2025, says Sri Lanka’s current employed people stand at 8.1 million, out of which 1.3 million are public employees and 3.8 million are private sector employees.

Even though 42 per cent of employed people have qualifications up to Grade 10, the data indicates a decreasing pattern of 3.9 per cent from 2019 to the first quarter of 2025.

The DCS further addresses issues in the labour market, saying that 62.4 per cent of total employed individuals are at the ages of 40 and above, and only 15.3 per cent are in the age category of 20 to 29, highlighting that youth participation in the labour market in Sri Lanka remains low.

Male participation in employment has always been higher than females, according to data from the DCS.

The economically inactive population is about 8.6 million. Out of the economically inactive population, 27.6 per cent are males and 72.4 per cent are females.”

The unemployment problem in Sri Lanka is more acute for educated females than educated males, the survey bulletin stated, referring to its consistent observation over the past years.

According to the recent World Bank report on the public finance review, 40 per cent of all secondary sector public employees are non-specialised, which means those with a general secondary school education but no specialised or professional training.