Minister of Education (Sri Lanka)

The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education^[1] (Sinhala: අධ්‍යාපන, උසස් අධ්‍යාපන සහ වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය; Tamil: கல்வி, உயர்கல்வி மற்றும் தொழிற்கல்வி அமைச்சர்) is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education of Sri Lanka
අධ්‍යාපන, උසස් අධ්‍යාපන සහ වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය கல்வி, உயர்கல்வி மற்றும் தொழிற்கல்வி அமைச்சர்
Emblem of Sri Lanka
Incumbent Harini Amarasuriya since 24 September 2024
Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
Appointer	The President with advice of Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	C. W. W. Kannangara (as Chairman of Executive Committee on Education) E. A. Nugawela (as Minister of Education)
Formation	September 26, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-09-26)
Website	Ministry of Education

Cabinet Ministers

Parties

  Sri Lanka Freedom Party   United National Party   Sinhala Language Front   Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna   Mahajana Eksath Peramuna   National People's Power

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Head of Government
				From	To	Period
Chairman of the Executive Committee on Education
-			C. W. W. Kannangara සී.ඩබ්ලිව්.ඩබ්ලිව්.කන්නන්ගර (1884–1969) MP for Galle District	7 July 1931	24 September 1947	16 years, 79 days	-	First Board of Ministers Second Board of Ministers	D. B. Jayatilaka D. S. Senanayake
Minister of Education
1			Major E. A. Nugawela ED ඊ.ඒ.නුගවෙල (1898–1972) MP for Kadugannawa District	24 September 1947	22 March 1952	4 years, 269 days	United National Party	Don Stephen	D. S. Senanayake
				22 March 1952	19 June 1952			Dudley I	Dudley Senanayake
2			M. D. Banda එම්.ඩී.බණ්ඩා (1914–1974) MP for Maturata District	19 June 1952	12 October 1953	3 years, 298 days
				12 October 1953	12 April 1956			Kotelawala	Sir John Kotelawala
3			Wijeyananda Dahanayake විජයානන්ද දහනායක (1902–1997) MP for Galle District (Prime Minister from 26 September 1959)	12 April 1956	26 September 1959	3 years, 343 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Solomon	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
				26 September 1959	20 March 1960			Dahanayake	Self
Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs
4			Bernard Aluwihare බර්නාඩ් අලුවිහාරේ (1902–1961) MP for Matale District	21 March 1960	21 July 1960	122 days	United National Party	Dudley II	Dudley Senanayake
Minister of Education and Broadcasting
5			Deshamanya Badi-ud-din Mahmud බදි-උද්-දින් මහමුද් (1904–1997)	23 July 1960	28 May 1963	2 years, 309 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirimavo I	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs
5			P. B. G. Kalugalla පී බී ජී කළුගල්ල (1920–2007) MP for Kegalle District	28 May 1963	25 March 1965	1 year, 301 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirimavo I	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
6			I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle අයි.එම්.ආර්.ඒ.ඊරියගොල්ලේ (1907–1973) MP for Kuliyapitiya District	25 March 1965	29 May 1970	5 years, 65 days	United National Party	Dudley III	Dudley Senanayake
Minister of Education
(5)			Deshamanya Badi-ud-din Mahmud බදි-උද්-දින් මහමුද් (1904–1997) Appointed MP	29 May 1970	23 July 1977	7 years, 55 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirimavo II	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
7			Deshamanya Nissanka Wijeyeratne නිශ්ශංක පරාක්‍රම විජයරත්න (1924–2007) MP for Dedigama District	23 July 1977	14 February 1980	2 years, 206 days	United National Party	Jayewardene	J. R. Jayewardene
8			Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949) MP for Biyagama District	14 February 1980	2 January 1989	9 years, 0 days
				2 January 1989	14 February 1989			Premadasa	Ranasinghe Premadasa
Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs and Information
9			W. J. M. Lokubandara වි. ජ. මු. ලොකුබණ්ඩාර (1941–2021) MP for Badulla District	18 February 1989	28 March 1990	1 year, 38 days	United National Party	Premadasa	Ranasinghe Premadasa
Minister of Education and Higher Education
10			Lalith Athulathmudali ලලිත් ඇතුලත්මුදලි (1936–1993) MP for Colombo District	30 March 1990	30 August 1991	1 year, 153 days	United National Party	Premadasa	Ranasinghe Premadasa
(9)			W. J. M. Lokubandara වි. ජ. මු. ලොකුබණ්ඩාර (1941–2021) MP for Badulla District	12 August 1993	15 August 1994	1 year, 3 days		Wijetunga	Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
11			Richard Pathirana රිචඩ් පතිරණ (1938–2008) MP for Galle District	19 August 1994	12 November 1994	6 years, 61 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
				12 November 1994	19 October 2000			Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Minister of Education
12			Susil Premajayantha සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත (born 1955) MP for Colombo District	19 October 2000	14 September 2001	330 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Minister of Education and Higher Education
13			Sarath Amunugama සරත් ලීලානන්ද බණඩාර අමුනුගම (born 1939) MP for Kandy District	14 September 2001	10 October 2001	26 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Minister of Human Resources, Education and Culture
14			Karunasena Kodituwakku කරුණාසේන කොඩිතුවක්කු (born 1945) MP for Colombo District	12 December 2001	7 February 2004	2 years, 57 days	United National Party	Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Minister of Education
15			Chandrika Kumaratunga චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක (born 1945) (President)	10 April 2004	19 November 2005	1 year, 223 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
(12)			Susil Premajayantha සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත (born 1955) MP for Colombo District	23 November 2005	23 April 2010	4 years, 151 days		Mahinda	Mahinda Rajapaksa
16			Bandula Gunawardane බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන (born 1953) MP for Colombo District	23 April 2010	12 January 2015	4 years, 264 days
17			Akila Viraj Kariyawasam අකිල විරාජ් කාරියවසම් (born 1973) MP for Kurunegala	12 January 2015	26 October 2018	3 years, 287 days	United National Party	Sirisena I	Maithripala Sirisena
								Sirisena II
Minister of Education and Higher Education
18			Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe විජයදාස රාජපක්ෂ (born 1959) MP for Colombo District	29 October 2018	15 December 2018	47 days	United National Party	Sirisena III	Maithripala Sirisena
Minister of Education
(17)			Akila Viraj Kariyawasam අකිල විරාජ් කාරියවසම් (born 1973) MP for Kurunegala	20 December 2018	21 November 2019	336 days	United National Party	Sirisena IV	Maithripala Sirisena
18			Dullas Alahapperuma ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම (born 1959) MP for Matara District	22 November 2019	12 August 2020	264 days	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	Gotabaya I	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
19			G. L. Peiris ගාමිණී ලක්ශ්මන් පීරිස් (born 1946) National List MP	12 August 2020	16 August 2021	1 year, 4 days		Gotabaya II
20			Dinesh Gunawardena දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන (born 1949) MP for Colombo District	16 August 2021	18 April 2022	245 days	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna
21			Ramesh Pathirana රමේෂ් පතිරණ (born 1969) MP for Galle District	18 April 2022	9 May 2022	21 days	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	Gotabaya III
22			Susil Premajayantha සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත (born 1955) MP for Colombo District	20 May 2022	23 September 2024	2 years, 126 days		Gotabaya IV
								Wickremesinghe	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
23			Harini Amarasuriya හරිනි අමරසූරිය (born 1970) MP for Colombo District	24 September 2024	Incumbent	230 days	National People's Power	Dissanayake I	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
								Dissanayake II

See also

• Ministry of Education