Review of welfare
activities in Sri Lanka (1948 -1977)
In
1948, Sri Lanka achieved a historically significant and most awaited landmark in
historical evolution, which is Independence. Well, before that Sri Lanka has
been ruled by different foreign forces for many years. With the achievement of
independence, Sri Lanka adopted a New Westminster style constitution in 1948,
modeled on the British structure. From the influences comprised by the late
colonial state, the newly independent government of Sri Lanka continued to
develop its welfare state based on the earlier social policy initiatives. The
Sri Lankan welfare programs were mainly built around three major pillars.
1.
Education
sector
2.
National
insurance
3.
National
Health
All
the welfare activities were logically based on the above three pillars as same as
The colonial state. The welfare initiatives from 1948 to 1968 which were based
on the high three components (education, health, transport, food subsidies, and public
welfare assistance) carried around 40% of total public expenditure (Kelagma, 2004).
Education sector
Education
is one of the most essential welfare activities for a particular economy.
Without a proper education system, such a country cannot achieve growth or at
least survive as a country. A sound education system enhances reasoning
ability, develop cognitive skills, improves problem-solving, and develops
language and mathematical capabilities (Kelagma, 2004). Therefore investing in education
is a much more important fact that should take into account by the policymakers.
Kannangara report (1943) cited by Kelagama (2004), it’s recommending a system
of universal and compulsory free education from kindergarten to the university.
Thereby it is established that welfare activities in Sri Lanka were based on
universalized principles.
Educational
policies such as the introduction of free education, switching of the medium of
instruction to Sinhala and Tamil, the takeover of assisted schools, and the
extension of science teaching into rural areas, open up new paths to the
a society such as medicine and law which were previously dominated by the western
Educated in the middle classes. In addition to the above policies, school midday meal and
scholarships, textbooks and a set of uniforms had been supplied as student
Welfare activities in this period.
Further school transport was subsidized by The government (Ministry of Education, 2013). Apart from that in the 1960s, Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) was established to develop the curricula for all the subjects and help in teacher development as well.
Further school transport was subsidized by The government (Ministry of Education, 2013). Apart from that in the 1960s, Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) was established to develop the curricula for all the subjects and help in teacher development as well.
Education
facilities in this era were much more available as such people can get on with
Competitive jobs. According to the population census of 1946 cited by Kelagama
(2004), the general literacy level of the male was 70 percent, and female was 44 percent,
thereby the education system was aimed to develop the general literacy level of the
society and turning out persons for middle-class occupations.
When
analyzed the government expenditure on education as percentage Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), it is noted that investing in education had gradually increased.
In 1950, government expenditure as a ratio GDP recorded at 2.5 percent whereas
in 1971 it is increased up to 4.1 percent. The total number of government schools
was gradually increased from 1950 to 1980. It was recorded that in 1950, 3,188 government schools were enrolling around 1.3 million students and in 1981
It was raised up to 9,521 with a student base approximately 3.4 million. Meanwhile,
the number of teachers in the government schools was gradually increased from 25,581
To 141,186 in the period above. When looked into the higher education
sector, it is noted that several students who are entering the
universities are getting increased year by year. Accordingly, in 1950, it is
stated that there were 2,036 university undergraduates and university staff of
157, whereas in 1981, there were 17,656 university students and 1,609 university
staff (refer to Table 3).
Health sector
If
The people who live in the country is unhealthy, so as the economy. Therefore being
healthy is very much important fact that helps to grow the economy. When
analyzing the social policy documents, the Compton Report in 1950 had made a significant
impact on the enactment of Health Services Act of 1952. There were three main
achievements in that report, which were,
1.
The
abolition of private practice for doctors in the state sector
2.
Enabling
the development concurrently of preventive and curative services
3.
Outlining
the rationale for equitable universal health service as a matter of right
Specialists
In the government, the sector had allowed treating private patients up to 1970s, but it
later banned until the economic liberalization in 1977. From 1977 consultants
were free to see individual patients in their off-hours, and this led to the popularity
of the word “channeling.”
After
1948, development of health services continued and were expanded gradually. In 1950 it was recorded 263 hospitals and 19,959
Beds and in 1980 they were raised to 380 hospitals and 42,275 beds. Further, in
1950 doctors, assistant medical practitioners, and nurses recorded as 674,675 and
1387 respectively whereas in 1980 it was increased up to 2055, 1018 and 6834
respectively (refer Table 1).
When
looked into the health indexes such as maternal mortality and infant mortality,
Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress in those areas (Lakshman, 1997). The successfulness of those
indicators mostly based on two national policies relating to health: free
health care in the public sector and the provision of services close to the client
From the 1930s onwards (Kelagma, 2004).
Further Kelagama (2004) stated that with the rapid development of these indicators, they lead to appreciate many other factors, including literacy rate, women empowerment and widespread The network of health care facilities. Additionally, he stated that, even though such improvements had been achieved, the ratio of government health expenditure to GDP in Sri Lanka has been low but Sri Lanka was cited as a healthy country as a result of supportive social policy (refer to Table 2).
Further Kelagama (2004) stated that with the rapid development of these indicators, they lead to appreciate many other factors, including literacy rate, women empowerment and widespread The network of health care facilities. Additionally, he stated that, even though such improvements had been achieved, the ratio of government health expenditure to GDP in Sri Lanka has been low but Sri Lanka was cited as a healthy country as a result of supportive social policy (refer to Table 2).
Social security /
National insurance
Social
security or social services emerged with the Social Services Commission Report in
1947 (Lakshman, 1997). Its main focus was on policy questions
relating to social security, unemployment, financial distress, old age, and
disability destitution. With the effects of its recommendations, it was decided
to establish a plan that would be benefited financially to the wage earners in
the public and commercial sectors. According to this recommendation, Employee’s
Provident Fund (EPF) was established in 1958, which provide lump sum benefit to
be paid to the worker at retirement following the contribution made. In
the beginning, it was dedicated to cover the institutions which had more than 5
employees whereas it was banned after 1971 regardless of the number of
employees in the organization.
Apart
From the above three pillars, another significant aspect of the Sri Lankan
welfare policy relates to housing, public utilities, and personal social
services. The housing policy mainly
considered in alleviating difficulties of the middle and low-income groups in
the urban sector (Kelagma, 2004). The concept of housing policy was
primarily ignored because of the low rates of urbanization in Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, the establishment of the Ministry of Housing in 1953, and the passing of the
National Housing Act in 1954 marked a special milestone in the development of
housing policy.
The
Public utilities such as water, electricity, transportation, etc. are the same as
significant as other welfare activities. In the modern world,, these are identified as
social infrastructure facilities. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the
nationalization of road passenger services and the aid for transport was seen
as having separate social welfare benefits. With the help of cheap and extended
transportation facilities, other welfare services like education, health, and
other services will also be facilitated.
Personal
Social services are the services which are provided to vulnerable people in a
country. Vulnerable people who are pure of help from someone, for an
example disabled, children, old aged people. The personal social services,
however, remained neglected as an aspect of public policy (Kelagma, 2004). Unlike the other social welfare
activities, countries were not paid much attention to those particular groups,
because the mindfulness of them would be supplied by their family or kin
networks. Alailima (1995) cited by Kelagama (2004) stated that the total cost
of public welfare and social security schemes constituted less than one percent
of public expenditure.
Conclusion
As
A whole, when analyzing the welfare activities, it depicts the effect to one of
the primary economic indicators in the economy. That is per capita income of Sri
Lanka in US $ had shown an increasing trend from 1965 to 1977 (refer figure
1). The impact of spending on education, health, and other welfare activities
would have been a majorly contributed to such a trend. If further expanded,
expenditures on education cause a lower unemployment rate, growth in literacy rates,
thereby increasing the output of the economy, which leads to developing the per
capita income. Additionally, spend on infrastructure facilities would cause
growth in the productivity of the country, since it has facilitated the daily
routines of the people utilizing utilities such as electricity, transport, etc. Finally, it is noted that from 1948 to 1977, there were several welfare
activities conducted which eventually benefited the Sri Lankan economy as
a whole.
Appendix - 01
Table 1: Growth of health facilities and
personnel, 1950-1980
Category/Year
|
1950
|
1960
|
1970
|
1980
|
Beds
|
19,959
|
29,816
|
37,735
|
42,275
|
Hospitals(a)
|
263
|
289
|
326
|
380
|
Doctors(b)
|
674
|
1,173
|
1,932
|
2,055
|
Assistant
Medical Practitioners
|
676
|
1,107
|
1,205
|
1,018
|
Nurses
|
1,387
|
3,232
|
5,542
|
6,834
|
Notes: a –
Excluding maternity homes
b - in the Department of Health
Source: Health
Administration Reports as quoted in Dilemmas of Development: Fifty Years of
Economic Change in Sri Lanka (1997)
Table 2: GHE/GDP ratio and health
indicators
Decade
|
GHE/GDP
|
Year
|
Maternal mortality rate
|
Infant mortality rate
|
The 1950s
|
1.95
|
1950
|
55.3
|
82.3
|
The 1960s
|
2.12
|
1960
|
30.2
|
57
|
The 1970s
|
1.81
|
1970
|
14.5
|
47.5
|
Notes: GHE –
Government health expenditure
Source: WHO (2002a)
as quoted in Economic Policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and Debates (2004)
Table 3: Trends in education provisions
and attainment, 1950-1981
Category/Year
|
1950
|
1960
|
1971
|
1981
|
Government
Schools
|
3,188
|
4,394
|
8,585
|
9,521
|
Students
in government schools
|
1,349,345
|
2,192,379
|
2,828,070
|
3,451,358
|
Teachers
in government schools
|
38,086
|
69,658
|
94,858
|
135,869
|
Education expenditure as a % of GDP
|
2.5
|
4.4
|
4.1
|
2.4
|
University
students
|
2,036
|
3,684
|
12,239
|
17,656
|
University
staff
|
157
|
269
|
1,109
|
1,609
|
Adult
literacy rate
|
65.4
|
71.6
|
78.5
|
87.2
|
·
Male
|
75.9
|
79.3
|
85.6
|
91.1
|
·
Female
|
53.6
|
63.2
|
70.9
|
83.2
|
Note:
Literacy rates are for 1953 and 1963 respectively
Source:
Department of Census and Statistics; Ministry of Education; Central Bank of Sri
Lanka; University Grants Commission as quoted in Economic Policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and
Debates (2004)
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