# Minister of Education (Sri Lanka)

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

## 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 | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Head of Government |
| No. | Portrait | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | From | To | Period | Political party | Ministry | Head of Government |
| 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 |
| 1 | | | Major E. A. Nugawela ED ඊ.ඒ.නුගවෙල (1898–1972) MP for Kadugannawa District | 22 March 1952 | 19 June 1952 | 4 years, 269 days | United National Party | 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 | United National Party | Dudley I | Dudley Senanayake |
| 2 | | | M. D. Banda එම්.ඩී.බණ්ඩා (1914–1974) MP for Maturata District | 12 October 1953 | 12 April 1956 | 3 years, 298 days | United National Party | 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 |
| 3 | | | Wijeyananda Dahanayake විජයානන්ද දහනායක (1902–1997) MP for Galle District (Prime Minister from 26 September 1959) | 26 September 1959 | 20 March 1960 | 3 years, 343 days | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 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 | United National Party | Jayewardene | J. R. Jayewardene |
| 8 | | | Ranil Wickremesinghe රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ (born 1949) MP for Biyagama District | 2 January 1989 | 14 February 1989 | 9 years, 0 days | United National Party | 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 | United National Party | 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 | Wijetunga | Dingiri Banda Wijetunga |
| 11 | | | Richard Pathirana රිචඩ් පතිරණ (1938–2008) MP for Galle District | 12 November 1994 | 19 October 2000 | 6 years, 61 days | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 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 | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | Mahinda | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| 16 | | | Bandula Gunawardane බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන (born 1953) MP for Colombo District | 23 April 2010 | 12 January 2015 | 4 years, 264 days | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | Mahinda | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| 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 |
| 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 II | Maithripala Sirisena |
| 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 | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | Gotabaya II | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| 20 | | | Dinesh Gunawardena දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන (born 1949) MP for Colombo District | 16 August 2021 | 18 April 2022 | 245 days | Mahajana Eksath Peramuna | Gotabaya II | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| 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 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| 22 | | | Susil Premajayantha සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත (born 1955) MP for Colombo District | 20 May 2022 | 23 September 2024 | 2 years, 126 days | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | Gotabaya IV | Gotabaya Rajapaksa |
| 22 | | | Susil Premajayantha සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත (born 1955) MP for Colombo District | 20 May 2022 | 23 September 2024 | 2 years, 126 days | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 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 | 147 days | National People's Power | Dissanayake I | Anura Kumara Dissanayake |
| 23 | | | Harini Amarasuriya හරිනි අමරසූරිය (born 1970) MP for Colombo District | 24 September 2024 | Incumbent | 147 days | National People's Power | Dissanayake II | Anura Kumara Dissanayake |