2019 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 1(1) As compared with all other demographic groups, it is Sri Lanka’s Up-Country Tamil population that registers the poorest health outcomes. 84 However, this state of affairs is largely the result of this population having to rely on healthcare provided by one’s respective estate, that is, healthcare provided by the private, forprofit tea plantation that one happens to either work for or reside within. Of particular note, this medical scheme is not integrated into the national health system, and because of this inferior healthcare services prevail. 85 The medical care that is available on estates is provided by Estate Medical Assistants employed by plantation management who often have no medical training. 86 Similarly, as compared with all other demographic groups, it is again Sri Lanka’s Up-Country Tamil population that registers the poorest educational outcomes. 87 This situation is largely attributable to this population’s continued reliance on estate schools, an arrangement unique to the Up-Country. Though estate schools were brought under the purview of the national education system between 1977 and 1980, 88 prior to which they were the responsibility of estate management, many are characterised by the Ministry of Education as having a lack of safe buildings, well-equipped classrooms and appropriate learning materials. 89 Further, plantation areas are disadvantaged with respect to secondary education, with 68.5 per cent of schools only offering primary instruction, and where secondary education is available it is marked by an overall paucity of teachers capable of teaching science and mathematics. 90 When compared with both the urban and rural sectors of the Sri Lankan labour force, it is the estate sector that registers the highest labour force participation rate at 63.1 per cent, whereas the urban and rural sectors register 48.6 and 54.4 per cent respectively. 91 Moreover, it is the estate sector that again registers the highest employment to population ratio at 60.9 per cent, with the urban and rural sectors trailing at 46.4 and 51.8 per cent respectively. 92 Despite these figures, from the years 1995–96 through to 2012, the estate sector has consistently registered the highest poverty headcount in the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, and when compared with all other demographic groups, it is the Up-Country Tamil population that registers the smallest middle class at 10 per cent of its population, with Sri Lanka’s Sinhala demographic leading at 22 per cent. 93 Further, according 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 United Nations Development Program, Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012: Bridging Regional Disparities for Human Development (Report, 2012) <https://www.undp.org/content/dam/srilanka/docs/localpublications/Sri%20Lanka%20Hum an%20Development%20Report%202012.pdf> (‘Sri Lanka Development Report 2012’). Kanapathypillai (n 51); Lawrence (n 55). Lawrence (n 55); Vijayapalan (n 37). Sri Lanka Development Report 2012 (n 84). Nadesan (n 49). United Nations Children’s Fund Sri Lanka, Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study (Report, February 2013) (‘Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka’). ibid; A S Chandrabose and P P Sivapragasam, Red Colour of Tea: Central Issues that Impact the Tea Plantation Community in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka: Human Development Organization 2011). Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2015 (Annual Report, 17 November 2016) 9. ibid 20. Department of Census and Statistics, Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2012/13 (Report, 21 March 2015) 42; Vagisha Gunasekara, Unpacking the Middle: A Class-based Analysis of the Labour Market in Sri Lanka (Discussion Paper, February 2015) 10; World Bank, Sri Lanka Poverty Assessment, Engendering Growth with Equity: Opportunities and Challenges (Report, 23 January 2007). 18