Etisalat partners two Ministries, STC to boost ICT literacy in schools

Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Sri Lanka, a key driver of the country’s socioeconomic development programme envisaged by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will be provided a boost through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade, Etisalat and the State Trading Corporation (STC).

This project was officially launched yesterday (12 May) at the Taj Samudra by signing the MoU.

Minister of Education Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Cooperatives and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando, STC Chairman Pradeep Gunawardena and Etisalat Chief Executive Officer Dumindra Ratnayaka attended the occasion.

Etisalat will provide its 3.75G service and connectivity to Sri Lanka’s education sector via the STC, providing a special bundle offer to all Sri Lankan schools, students and children at an affordable price and scheme.

A sophisticated Notebook PC, mobile broadband connectivity, educational e-learning content which comprises the school curriculum content on an e-learning platform and a HSPA+ modem unit, providing unmatched speeds both on up-link and download shall be included in the bundle offer.

In addition easy payment schemes from Government and non government financial institutions will be provided by STC to students and teachers at an affordable price.

Furthermore, extensive research reveals that one of the main barriers for internet growth in Sri Lanka is the caution exercised by parents due to the misuse of this service.

This has been addressed by incorporating world renowned parental control software known as NetNanny into this special bundle offer. This software can protect students to the maximum level while making valuable internet resources available to them, which will be good news for parents in Sri Lanka.

As a CSR initiative in partnership with STC, Etisalat has come forward to donate this fully-fledged educational system to all Sri Lankan schools.

This initiative will take this technology to the grass root level, aiding in brining the gap between the urban and rural whist expanding various possibilities.

School curriculum-based e-learning content shall be provided on an e-learning platform powered by Etisalat. This e-learning content will be developed with the direction and endorsement of the Ministry of Education and the quality of the service will be ensured by utilising the best qualified and trained resource personnel in the country, with strictly monitored standards.

This portal shall be equally important to teachers and students. Teachers can use this service as a reference prior to teaching, thus improving the service delivery of teachers. Further this can be used as an innovative teaching medium to make the class room experience more interesting and interactive.

On the whole the teaching community in Sri Lanka will greatly benefit through this initiative on a major scale, and students can also use this as a supplementary mode of education for revision. Parents who are concerned about the time spent on travelling and safety of children while attending tuition classes can use this platform as an alternative method of education without compromising on quality.

All groundwork related to this innovative e-learning platform is currently underway and the service will be made available in a short span of time. The exclusive distribution channel in this regard will be the STC and these products will be sold through the STC’s extensive distribution channel.

The services will function on a trilingual platform, thereby breaking language barriers and enhancing accessibility and availability for all.

With the farsighted objective of developing ICT literacy in Sri Lanka, this endeavour backs up Sri Lanka as it reaches the grass root level via STC’s extensive distribution channel.

Gunawardena said: “We have seen national IT literacy increase from five per cent to 30 per cent, due to initiatives such as ‘e-learning programme,’ ‘Nenasala-wisdom outlets’ and so on. With the ultimate aim of reaching the 75 per cent mark in ICT literacy in 2016, we are dedicated to achieve this goal via such initiatives within the education sector.”

Educating and enabling the teachers will be the key starting point so that this learning can be passed on to students and parents. “We appreciate the efforts by Etisalat for taking steps to distribute Notebook PC’s and Etisalat connections to all schools in the island through the STC,” the Minister added.

It was noted that memorandums, model papers, teacher handbooks, revision kits and such will be available via the system, enabling faster and more effective information dissemination.

“I would also like to thank Minister Johnston Fernando and Etisalat for taking this initiative to introduce projects of this nature,” added Minister Gunawardena.

Minister Fernando said: “We familiarise ourselves with technology in order to ease our day-to-day lives and activities. The hallmark of this project is that students have access to knowledge at any given time with the flexibility to study at their own pace, allowing them more time to peruse extra curriculum activities.”

I wish this project all success and hope that it will pave the way for knowledge-based economy, he went on to thank Etisalat and Minister Gunawardena for the support rendered towards this project.

Chairman STC Pradeep Gunawardena added: “As a government institution which focuses on trade and profit, we never forget to pay special attention to our social responsibilities.”

Etisalat CEO Dumindra Ratnayake said that Etisalat was proud to be aiding the President’s initiative of improving the ICT literacy in Sri Lanka.

 “We are happy to be part of this nationally significant initiative and strongly believe that this can create immense possibilities across the land.”