Despite Sri Lanka’s 1990 commitment to provide 10–11 years of free education to all, only 93% of children in the 5–14-year-old age group were in school by the year 2000. Moreover, the education participation rates are not equitable across the country, varying by socio-economic groups. This paper examines the determinants of school non-participation of 5–14-year olds in Sri Lanka using household, community and school-level information obtained from an island-wide survey. The study finds that demand side problems such as poverty, direct and indirect costs of schooling, and cultural factors as well as supply side shortcomings such as quality of education seem to affect schooling
behavior of children. Policies facilitating compulsory education in the country at present gives prominence to awareness building, monitoring and improvements in education delivery. The results show that these efforts need to be complemented by other supply side improvements and income transfer measures, especially for the poorest, to achieve universal school attendance.