SL’s place in latest Global Knowledge Index unchanged

• Records marginal improvement in country score to 42.1 points 

Sri Lanka scored 42.1 points in the Global Knowledge Index (GKI) 2020 recording a marginal improvement in the score, though the country rank remains unchanged. 

A notable advancement in knowledge infrastructure in information and technology sector helped the higher score. Sri Lanka was ranked 87th out of 138 countries in the GKI 2020 and 26th out of the 36 countries with high human development. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation jointly released the GKI 2020 last week.

Sri Lanka scored 42 points in 2019. The index has been structured based on 133 variables under seven sectors, which include— pre-university education; technical and vocational education and training; higher education and research; development and innovation; information and communication technology; economics; and general supportive environment.

In information and technology sectorial sub-index of GKI, the country’s score improved from 37.2 points in 2019 to 46.1 points in 2020, while its ranking jumped by eight places to 90th spot this year.

The report identified that investment in telecom services as a percentage of GDP as an area of improvement. 
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka continued to perform poorly in higher education & research and development & innovation sub-indices occupying 110th and 93th spots in respective sub-indices. 

The report recommended that Sri Lanka should focus on improvements in pupil-teacher ratio in secondary vocational education, expenditure on educational institutions and expenditure on non-tertiary vocational education to enhance the country’s knowledge infrastructure.