Australia's Basic Education Support Program (BESP) in Sri Lanka aims to improve access to education for Sri Lanka's most vulnerable and marginalised children, including those with disabilities. The program adopts UNICEF's 'Child Friendly Schools' (CFS) approach, which seeks to build the capacity of teachers, principals, and communities to promote holistic school development. This includes quality learning and a healthy, protective and safe environment for children, as well as the capacity of the education system to support the development of such schools.
A review of the program in 2011 found that all of the schools reached by the program (more than 1200) demonstrated improvements in access and quality of education. From 2012 Australia will support a new nation-wide education project in Sri Lanka in partnership with the World Bank and the Sri Lankan Government. The Transforming School Education Project (TSEP) supports the Government's education sector plan and will continue to improve access to education, but importantly will be striving for greater improvement in education quality.
The Government has adopted the CFS approach and will mainstream it nationally through TSEP.