Education qualification of Sri Lankan MPs revealed

 For the first time in Sri Lanka, Members of the Parliament have revealed their educational and professional qualifications for the perusal of the public. From the 225 Parliamentarians, 208 have declared either their educational or professional qualifications, or both to the Parliament Secretariat.

After parliamentary officials refused to divulge the information initially, the Right To Information Commission ruled that the information must be disclosed. Until then, although the MPs had been asked to submit the information, none had done. 

The details can be accessed by the public on the Parliamentary website, www.parliament.lk, under the directory of members. 

Earlier, Parliament's stance  in terms of Articles 90 and 91 of the Constitution, was that MPs’ educational qualifications had not been ‘recognised’ as preconditions for entering Parliament and that therefore there was no requirement to reveal the qualifications.

According to the Parliament website, the 17 Parliamentarians who failed to submit both educational and professional  qualifications to the Parliament Secretariat are: Chamara Sampath Dasanayake, Dhammika Perera, Gevindu Cumaratunga, Jagath Samarawickrama, Johnston Fernando, Kulasingam Dhileeban, Kumara Welgama, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Piyal Nishantha De Silva, Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thero, Rohitha Abeygunawardhana, S. Viyalendran, Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan, Vidura Wickramanayaka, Wimal Weerawansa and Yadamini Gunawardena.

According to the website, the highest educational qualification of 6 MPs is the Ordinary Level examination. 

52 MPs have mentioned GCE A/L as their highest educational qualification. However, this number cannot be confirmed as some have mentioned "upto A/L" and that does not confirm that they have passed the exam. 

23 MPs have listed Diplomas as their highest educational qualification.  

70 have said that they are either undergraduates or have graduated with Bachelor's degrees.

According to data on the website, 32 Parliamentarians have stated Masters degrees as their highest educational qualification. 

15 parliamentarians have mentioned Doctorates as their highest educational qualification.

This information of Sri Lankan Parliamentarians were divulged in response to an RTI appeal that was submitted in July 2021.

The directive was issued by the Right to Information Commission (RTIC), which identified this as a situation where the people have the right to know such details of their elected representatives.