Abstract:
Large scale migration for foreign employment from Sri Lanka started after the economic
liberalization policies implemented after 1977. Around two million Sri Lankans are currently
employed in foreign countries generating a remarkable amount of inward remittances. This
accounts for nearly 8.3% to the Gross National Product of Sri Lanka and is second only to
total export earnings from the apparel sector. This indicates that remittances play an
important role in the economy. However, literature in this area is confined to the benefits of
migration and do not focus on the effect of remittances on reduction of poverty. The impact
of remittance on education levels of households especially are not adequately studied or
documented. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the objective of measuring
the usage of remittance in primary education and its effects. This study was conducted in
Galewela, a predominantly rural area within the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Forty-five
households were randomly selected from beneficiaries of foreign remittances via Sampath
Bank PLC and another 45 households that did not receive remittances but resided in the
same area were selected for comparison with the beneficiary households. Data were
collected through interviews using a pre-structured questionnaire. Findings of the study
reveal that households that receive inward remittances spend a higher share of their
income on primary education of their children than other households. Children in
households that receive inward remittances; show better academic records; participate
more in extra-curricular activities; depict signs of better personal development; are more
aspired to gain further educational achievements; and have higher rates of participation in
tuition classes when compared with children in other households. Results of Wilcoxon
signed-rank test based on five criteria reveal that the indicators of involvement of rural
primary education has increased after the remittances are invested according to
perceptions of parents of families receiving remittances. Therefore, it is concluded that
remittance has been effectively used for the primary education of children of rural
households.
