A Brief Survey on the Development of Education among the Sri Lankan Muslim Community Between 1948-2000

Abstract

Abstract: The primary objective of this short paper is to highlight and briefly trace the development trends of education among Sri Lankan Muslim community between 1948-2000 years. A dramatic change took place in Muslim education during this period in Sri Lanka. Muslim perceptions and conceptions of education changed during the period. Some Muslim politicians, academics and intellectuals laid conceptual foundations for Muslim education during this period. It was a formative period of Muslim education. Some Muslim community leaders managed to overcome many political, religious, and socio-economic impediments to lay the foundation stones for the renaissance of Muslim Education. It is obvious that the Sri Lankan Muslim community has fallen behind in education since the colonial period. The statistics on educational achievement of each Sri Lankan community indicate that the Sri Lankan Muslim community is far behind the rest of Sri-Lankan communities in Education. There are some historical, religious, economic, and political reasons for this sluggishness of Muslim education . The title of this article is a generic one and it could include many areas of Muslim education. Yet, it is not my intention to examine different dimensions of Muslim education in Sri Lanka rather I would briefly highlight the origin, history, and the development of Muslim education in the post-independent Sri Lanka. Moreover, I will highlight the role and contribution of some Muslim community leaders who removed the dichotomous perceptions about education from the Muslim minds in Sri Lanka. How did Muslim education evolve in this period of Muslim history in Sri Lanka? What actions Muslim community leaders took to uplift Muslim education in this period? I will answer to some of these questions in this short paper. Very litter has been done on Muslim education in Sri Lanka. This area of research is relatively untouched by academics and researchers. Recently, some western academics have done some research on Muslim education in Sri Lanka. Many studies and research works can be done on Muslim education in Sri Lanka and yet, Muslim academics have shown very little interest in this area .Literature on Muslim education in Sri Lanka is rare and meagre. Therefore, academics and researchers find little research materials on Muslim education in Sri Lanka.