Intel to extend support to Uva Province

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In keeping with the Government’s drive to promote ICT across the country, Chief Minister of the Uva Province Shashindra Kumara Rajapaksa has shown keen interest in working with Intel to further enhance ICT activities.

With the end of the war, Sri Lanka has been on the fast track to socioeconomic development as envisaged in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana Vision for the Future’. According to this policy document, the country is gearing up to be a regional Knowledge Hub within the course of the next five years.

With this in mind, Chief Minister Rajapaksa stated: “This is the time for us to play a vital role in contributing to the country’s endeavour to become a regional hub. Working together with various ecosystem players, we should be able to achieve this without a problem to equip our next generation of youth across the country to be on par with their counterparts from the region.” At the recently-held Deyata Kirula exposition, Sri Lanka’s massive development exhibition that coincides with the Independence Day celebrations, Chief Minister Rajapaksa spoke with Intel Country Manager Indika de Zoysa on the possibility of strengthening the already existing relationship to encompass a greater percentage of the youth in the area.

“Increasing access to technology can be a critical driver of economic growth and we are willing to work with the Government to make it happen,” said de Zoysa. “We look forward to strengthening our existing programmes and hope to encompass a greater number of beneficiaries through our efforts for the people in the Uva Province.”

To date, Intel has already initiated many projects within the province. In August 2007, the Intel Teach was launched to train directors in Hali Ela. The following year a Master Teacher forum was held with 104 participants benefiting from this programme. A Teacher Felicitation ceremony was held in Badulla in 2009 where teachers from around this province were recognised for their dedication and knowledge sharing.

Other programmes organised and sponsored by Intel have been the five principal training programmes with the participation of 128 principals and 17 MoE officials, eight master teacher batches with 156 master teachers, and another 146 participant teacher batches with 2,314 teachers.

These programmes also encouraged learning through interactive sessions within this target group. The benefits of these training programmes have been acknowledged by the hundreds of students who have gone on to succeed in life.