Sri Lanka vs United Arab Emirates
Side-by-side comparison of how these places approach childhood.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has provided free education from kindergarten through university since 1945.
This early commitment to universal education gave Sri Lanka a 92% literacy rate, the highest in South Asia.
United Arab Emirates
In the UAE, your child's school could be British, American, Indian, or IB โ all on the same street.
With 90% of residents being expatriates, the UAE's school system is a patchwork of global curricula. Parents choose between British, American, IB, Indian, and other systems โ each with different standards and expectations.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka provides entirely free education from primary through university, including free textbooks and uniforms. The 5-4-2-2 system operates in Sinhala and Tamil medium schools. A highly competitive grade 5 scholarship exam determines entry to prestigious schools.
United Arab Emirates
Public schools teach the national Arabic-language curriculum. Private international schools โ British, American, IB, Indian, Filipino, and more โ serve the vast expatriate majority. KHDA (in Dubai) and ADEK (in Abu Dhabi) inspect and rate schools.
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