Education plays a central role in national reconciliation in Sri Lanka. This has special importance and presents complex challenges following the three-decade-long ethnic conflict, disruptions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, and an unprecedented economic and social crisis. Sri Lanka’s education sector faces challenges and opportunities that reflect its complex history, the diverse needs of its population, and contemporary development approaches. This brief provides a summary history of the formal education system, its contemporary organization, and available aggregate statistics, and reviews various analyses of issues the system confronts. The objective is to provide robust background for ongoing discussions about strategic religious engagement as part of a four-country project supported by the Templeton Religion Trust, with the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement as the Sri Lankan partner.