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Meeting Point : By Chandani Jayatilleke

Dr.Harsha Alles was trained to be a paediatrician and spent the early part of his professional life treating children. But somewhere along the way, he stopped ministering to children and started teaching them instead. Alles' Gateway Kids Computing School educates kids not only in Sri Lanka, but also in the South Asian region. Alles was chosen as one of the Outstanding Young Persons 2000 by the Jaycees for his contributions towards children's education.

Two computers, two students and two teachers - that was the humble beginning of the Gateway Kids Computing School in Colombo in 1997. But within a short span of five years, the institution has grown steadily with 15 local branches 12,000 students and ventures in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

As a student of the North Colombo Medical College, Alles dreamt of opening a computing school for children. "When the Universities were closed for nearly three years due to political unrest, I got engaged in my father's venture Gateway, and promoted computer education among school-leavers and professionals," Alles said. But, he had to give up full time involvement in the school, as he had to complete his medical studies. Alles believes that Sri Lanka has the potential to become a centre for education in South Asia. In today's Meeting Point, Alles talks extensively on the potential of making Sri Lanka an education hub.

Education hub

"Sri Lanka had a good name in the educational field. Most of our professionals who go abroad excel because they all had got a sound educational background. Even in the West, employers recognise the fact that if they employ Sri Lankans, they would get quality service. Talking from a broader point of view, we have the highest literacy rate in South Asia - above 90 percent. All these facts contribute to the educational strength of our nation."

But the question is, have we really used this potential? Despite the highest literacy rate and the employability factor, in some parts of the world, Sri Lanka is known only as a source for housemaids. This is a sad situation. "Why aren't we using our valuable resources in education to harness the potential in the region?

If our educationists get together and develop this sector, we can become an educational hub in South Asia."

"Less fortunate people such as housemaides bring the highest amount of foreign exchange into the country. Actually they are doing their part, but I think the people who have really benefited from our education system such as professionals and educationists have not contributed enough. What is happening here is brain drain," he said.

"Gateway is our contribution to Sri Lanka's education system. I was always keen on doing something to encourage IT education among children.

We wanted to introduce a curriculum which is creative and which is developed by our own staff to suit international standards. We got the national curriculum of the UK and modelled our programs accordingly with our own course materials. Basically the British curriculum is open to anybody and they welcome developments in it." "Our children are very skillful. If they are given the right guidance they can become talented professionals. It was with this intention that we started the Gateway Kids School of Computing in 1997. Computing was popular at that time but there weren't many organised/professional IT training institutions for children."

With hard work, the school got to a good start and expanded its services within Sri Lanka, by opening 15 branches with 12,000 students. Its success is attributed to the affordable fees system to attract a broad segment of the society. "We even have children coming from underprivileged families. Of our branches, six are in Colombo. The outstation branches are in Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle, Gampaha, Negombo, Wattala and Panadura," Alles said.

Offshore business

When they were well established in Sri Lanka, Alles realised that the product was good enough to go offshore, specially in the South Asian region. "At the time when we were looking for opportunities there was a group from Bangladesh which expressed a willingness to take our franchise. In Bangladesh we have three branches, one in Dhaka and two in Chittagong with 1,000 students."

"That gave us a flavour of what we could do with our IT packages. But we needed some international support to promote the program offshore. We came across an institute called NCC-the biggest IT training provider in the UK. Their programs were basically for 15+ students, starting with a diploma and going up to Master's Level. They were also looking for a quality children's IT program for groups from 4 to 16. They came here and did a thorough study of our programs.

They were convinced that these were among the best programs and were keen to sign up with us. The NCC already operates in 40 countries. They were ready to market our programs overseas. Today, we share our experiences and promote the course in a joint effort." However, Alles' latest achievement is a tie up with 114 English medium schools all over Pakistan with 7,700 students. The deal is for four years. During this period, the number of students will be increased to 20,000. "The Pakistani school authorities are very keen on giving an IT education to their children from the kindergarten to the highest level. But sadly, in Sri Lanka, we have not been able to work with the Government so far. My personal view is that the Government and the private sector should work together to develop an IT curriculum in schools," he said.

"Our next goal is to break into Dubai. Some schools there have already shown an interest in following our programs. We have signed a MoU. We are also keen in getting into Europe and the Maldives."

"Going abroad means bringing foreign exchange into the country. But more than money, we must explore our potential as an educational hub and tie up with the South Asian market. Our universities can develop special programs which can be promoted in South Asia." Gateway was Alles' father's (who is a recognised educationist) brainchild. "Today we have two international schools in Colombo and Kandy, in addition to computing schools for kids and for adults. Our focus is on providing the nation quality education and making sure that we have up-to-date education programs on par with international standards."

School career

"Everybody should have access to quality education. Therefore, we try to cater to a wide spectrum of students. We have given scholarships to many underprivileged students. But, we don't advertise scholarships because scholarships have become a gimmick in promoting IT education in the country."

Alles started schooling at Royal College. Later his father started his own school, D.S.Senanayake College and wanted him to study in it. "So, I shifted to it when I was in Grade 5. The school had a very difficult beginning, starting with five teachers in a cadjan shed. In the first year it had 200 vacancies and only 160 applied. It started at a place called Koombi Kele. Today it has developed into a major school in Colombo.

"After my advanced level examinations, I joined the North Colombo Medical College. There also I took part in sports and passed out with second class honours. As an intern I worked at Medawachchiya and Anuradhapura hospitals. It was another interesting experience in my life.

I did a great deal of work in the paediatric sector. Later, I applied to the Colombo Medical College to be a demonstrator. While I was working there I did my Ph.D. My thesis was on Severe and Complicated Malaria. In between studies, I also worked at the Lady Ridgeway for about an year. Then I joined the Colombo Medical Faculty as a lecturer and obtained my Ph.D."

"After completion of my medical studies, I had to choose between medicine and IT education. I chose the latter. I knew that I couldn't have continued to run Gateway with commitments to research and studies at the Medical Faculty. I didn't want to be unfair by my students by attempting to do both. Now I have no regrets about leaving the medical profession. In my last year in Medical College as a lecturer, I developed a fair rapport with students and it was a very fruitful interaction," Alles said.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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