Developing human capital to a new and higher level will be the key for Sri Lanka to become an upper-middle-income economy said World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Dr. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough.
She was speaking at the Sri Lanka Human Capital Development event in Colombo where the World Bank launched their Human Capital Report.
She said they would be continuing their work with the government to realize the country’s full promise and potential. “Over the past six decades, Sri Lanka has focused on building the human capital of its people, and today, the country leads its South Asian neighbors on health and education.”
The World Bank is indeed proud to have been a steadfast partner with Sri Lanka as it moved along this commendable journey.
Technology and automation are radically changing the very nature of work and reshaping industry. Children who are in primary school today are likely to work in jobs that may not even exist right now. Education to should shift towards these demands if Sri Lanka is to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving knowledge economy.”
Given the vital importance of human capital for a country’s future, the World Bank launched the Human Capital Project in 2018. The project includes the new Human Capital Index which seeks to measure and forecast a country’s human capital by following the life-cycle of a child from birth to adulthood.
The report finds that in 2019, Sri Lanka performs only moderately well globally, with an overall score of 58 percent, and a ranking of 74 out of the 157 countries included in the Index. In other words, if current education and health conditions persist, a child born in Sri Lanka today will be a little more than half as productive (58% as productive) as she or he could have been if they had the benefit of a complete education and enjoyed full health.
By contrast, children born in Singapore today can expect to achieve 88 percent of their full potential, while those in Japan and Korea can reach 84 percent. And while Sri Lanka is the best performing country in South Asia, it lags behind East Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, and Vietnam in terms of human capital.
“Importantly, the report delves into detail while analyzing the human capital attainments of each province.”
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