The Project contributes to the goals of the World Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Sri Lanka (2013-2016). The CPS focuses on three areas of engagement to support Sri Lanka’s development goals. The Project is aligned with the third area, namely, “improving living standards and social inclusion”.
The mandate to “invest early, invest smartly and invest for all” is at the heart of the Bank’s Education Sector Strategy 2020, “Learning for All: Investing in Peoples Knowledge and Skills to Promote Development”. The strategy emphasizes three points: (a) the foundational skills acquired early in childhood make possible a lifetime of learning; (b) getting value for the education dollar requires smart investments that have proven to contribute to learning; and (c) it is important to ensure that all students, not just the most privileged or gifted, have equitable access to learning opportunities.
The Project is also in line with the strategic development goals of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). GoSL recognizes the importance of human capital formation, including the role of ECD, in realizing the country’s long-term development goals. The development objective of the Project is to enhance equitable access to and improve the quality of ECD services.