Influence of state bus services on school attendance in under-privileged remote areas: reflections from a case analysis in estate areas of Haputale, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Free education for all in Sri Lanka has enabled significant improvements in educational performance and living standards. However, there are still some issues unresolved; one being the difficulties in accessing education facilities in the townships, owing to mobility constraints. Students residing in plantation areas, for instance, become inconvenienced when public bus services are absent or unreliable.The present research quantitatively examined the significance of SLTB bus service availability, inter-alia, in determining the school attendance rate of students residing in remote estate areas. The Haputale Education Division was examined as a case study. Results indicated that, among factors that could significantly affect the level of school attendance of estate children, the availability of SLTB service on estate routes would be very crucial; a significant increase in attendance being realisable if SLTB’s scheduled school bus trips operated with greater reliability. The importance of affordable mobility services for school attendance in remote areas, is thus examined.The study enabled inference that the policy priority should be assigned to further strengthen and expand bus services. This intervention is likely to be more beneficial than focusing on other apparently influential determinants. However, the generalisability of these findings to other estate areas and geographically remote localities of the country needs to be confirmed through further research.