This paper commences by analysing the historical evolution of the Sri Lankan education system. The analysis pays special attention to the political and economic dimensions of public education policy, the sustained long-term commitment of governments to investment in human capital, and the creation of the conditions needed for the successful development of the education system. The paper discusses the performance of the Sri Lankan education system in terms of equity of access to general education and the quality of education. This is followed by a discussion of the key educational challenges facing the country in the future. These are shown to be mainly in the areas of education management and service delivery. The government,s policy framework, the Education Sector Development Framework and Programme (ESDFP), is outlined next. The ESDFP has four key themes: (a) promoting equitable access to primary and secondary education, (b) improving education quality, (c) enhancing the economic efficiency and equity of resource allocation and (d) strengthening governance and service delivery. The paper describes the initiatives and strategies under each of these themes to address the challenges faced by the country, and to develop the education system to the next level of performance. The paper concludes by drawing lessons from the Sri Lankan experience for other countries. There are several helpful and useful policy lessons from Sri Lanka for other countries.