COVID-19 pandemic has become a global health crisis, but its effects are not confined to health sector. Education is one of the most sensitive sectors that is severely affected by this pandemic. Worldwide school closures have resulted in fears of downfalls in literacy rates in many countries. Sri Lanka is one of the South Asian country that has got sustained detrimental effects of COVID-19 pandemic both medically as well as socially. Sri Lankan general education system which is traditional classroom-based education had to move to online education in order to keep in pace with educational momentum. This rapid shift has created many challenges; the main concerns are problems related to access a suitable devices and readiness and preparedness of the system to absorb online education. This critical review intends to explore more on to these challenges with statistical background where it re-emphasizes that the said challenges are predominant in the Sri Lankan education system and they have to be addressed immediately if the online education to be an effective alternative for traditional class-room teaching. This article further highlights the dearth of research in these concerns and essentiality of conducting impact surveys in order to take effective remedial policy decisions.
