Editing Colombo (section)

== Education ==
[[File:Royal College Colombo main building.jpg|thumb|right|[[Royal College Colombo]], the oldest public school in the city.]]{{See also|Education in Sri Lanka}}
Education institutions in Colombo have a long history. Colombo has many of the prominent [[Public school (UK)|public schools]] in the country, some of them government-owned and others private. Most of the prominent schools in the city date back to the 1800s when they were established during the British colonial rule,<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Overview of Education in Sri Lanka, The British Period: (1796–1948) |url=http://www.moe.gov.lk/Education_his_1.3.html |access-date=November 22, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411221808/http://www.moe.gov.lk/Education_his_1.3.html |archive-date=April 11, 2011}}</ref> such as the [[Royal College Colombo]] established in 1835. Certain urban schools of Sri Lanka have some religious alignment; this is partly due to the influence of the British, who established Christian missionary schools.<ref name="edu">{{cite web
 |last         = Harsha
 |first        = Aturupane
 |author2      = [[Paul Glewwe]]
 |author3      = Wisniewski Suzanne
 |title        = The Impact of School Quality, Socio-Economic Factors and Child Health on Students' Academic Performance: Evidence from Sri Lankan Primary Schools
 |publisher    = World Bank
 |location     = Colombo
 |date         = July 2007
 |url          = http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOUTHASIA/Resources/ImpactOfSchoolQuality_July2007.pdf
 |access-date   = 2007-07-27
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080910052950/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOUTHASIA/Resources/ImpactOfSchoolQuality_July2007.pdf
 |archive-date = 2008-09-10
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref><ref name="edu2">{{cite book
 |last         = Harsha
 |first        = Aturupane
 |author2      = [[Paul Glewwe]]
 |author3      = Wisniewski Suzanne
 |title        = Treasures of the Education System in Sri Lanka: Restoring Performance, Expanding Opportunities and Enhancing Prospects
 |publisher    = World Bank
 |location     = Colombo
 |date         = February 2005
 |url          = http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOUTHASIA/Resources/TreasuresInTheEducationSystem_February2005.pdf
 |isbn         = 978-955-8908-14-3
 |access-date   = 2007-07-27
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080910052953/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSOUTHASIA/Resources/TreasuresInTheEducationSystem_February2005.pdf
 |archive-date = 2008-09-10
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref> These include the [[Anglican]], [[Bishop's College (Sri Lanka)|Bishop's College]](1875); the [[Methodist]], [[Wesley College Colombo]] (1874); the [[Buddhist]], [[Ananda College]] (1886); the [[Muslim]], [[Zahira College, Colombo|Zahira College]] (1892); the [[St. Benedict's College, Colombo]] (1985), the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], [[St. Joseph's College, Colombo|St. Joseph's College]] (1896). The religious alignments do not affect the curriculum of the school except for the demographics of the student population.<ref name="edu" /> The secular schools [[D. S. Senanayake College]] (1967) and [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya]] (1973) have been established in the post independence era. Colombo has many International Schools that have come up in recent years.

Higher education in the city has a long history, beginning with the establishment of the [[Colombo Medical School]] (1870), the [[Sri Lanka Law College|Colombo Law College]] (1875), the School of Agriculture (1884) and the Government Technical College (1893). The first step in the creation of a university in Colombo was taken in 1913 with the establishment of the [[University College Colombo]] which prepared students for the [[University of London External System|external examinations]] of the [[University of London]]. This was followed by the establishment of the [[University of Ceylon]] in Colombo.<ref name="cmb.ac.lk">{{cite web |title=History of the University of Colombo |url=http://www.cmb.ac.lk/about/history.htm |access-date=November 22, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014080558/http://www.cmb.ac.lk/about/history.htm |archive-date=October 14, 2008}}</ref> Today the [[University of Colombo]] and the [[University of the Visual & Performing Arts]] are state universities in the city. The [[Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology]] has a metropolitan campus in the city centre. There are several private higher education institutions in the city.