Helping you to gather a wealth of knowledge

BOOKS: With August holidays, most teens are busy spending their leisure indulging in several hobbies.

Some teens are at cyber cafes playing computer games or browsing websites to enhance their knowledge while some are brushing up their cricketing, chess or netball skills at schools.

Reading too is popular with teens and with the objective of Spreading the Wealth of Knowledge, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and The Asia Foundation embarked on a partnership in 2004 as a part of the Foundation's ongoing 'Books for Asia' initiative.

This joint effort is aimed at the development of children's, adult, and professional education in Sri Lanka by providing a range of educational materials, particularly books, to schools, libraries, and other learning institutions. This fosters a stronger culture of reading among schoolchildren, undergraduates, parents and the public.

It encourages students to improve their literary skills, and helps educators and school teachers improve vocational and research skills.

SLT actively participates in the programme in Sri Lanka, assisting The Asia Foundation in logistics related to the distribution of books to six hundred educational institutions.

The primary goal of the Asia Foundation's programme in Sri Lanka is to make available books relevant to the needs of receiving institutions. Most books distributed are brand new and are donated by publishers based in the United States. Every year, Books for Asia distributes more than 900,000 books in 16 countries, including 100,000 to 600 schools and libraries all over Sri Lanka.

Each donation gives schoolchildren access to a wide range of books, helping them to develop their language and literary skills, learn maths and science, and access information about the world around them.

Beginning in 2004, this SLT/Asia Foundation partnership began with the first book presentation programme held at the University of Rajarata, followed by the University of Moratuwa, Sarvodhaya, and the Banking Institute of the Central Bank, Technical colleges and school libraries.

The most recent book donation was made at the Kalutara Bodhi Gnana Library and to the schools in the Ja-Ela area. Sri Lanka Telecom and The Asia Foundation donated books in the Central Province, particularly to primary and secondary schools in Peradeniya this month.

Since 2004, SLT has provided support to The Asia Foundation to cover the in-country costs of the Books for Asia Programme. Describing the project as purely a social service, Anton Nallathamby, Director, of the Books Programme outlining the partnership with SLT, said: "I greatly appreciate SLT being an active partner in the success of the programme.

The company has made four donations so far, to cover the in country cost particularly with the storage cost of the books as well as administrative costs of the programme being met through these donations. The partnership has been immensely fruitful, with 100,000 textbooks being donated annually, and we expect to exceed this number for this year.

In collaboration with SLT in 2004, 2005 and 2006, this number is expected to be repeated this year as well, due to the demand and the popularity of the programme. SLT's contribution is very vital to the success of the programme.

"We are proud to be part of a programme that provides an invaluable service to schoolchildren across the country as well as helping in the development of the future generation, especially with their academic pursuits.

The development of the country requires a major investment towards the access to information, education and English language skills, especially with the re-introduction of English as a medium of instruction," Shoji Takahashi, CEO, SLT said.

With the aim of being both a responsible corporate citizen as well as a catalyst for economic and social prosperity, SLT contributes heavily to broad areas of social reform, comprising IT knowledge enhancement, education, career guidance, English language skills, nature conservation, arts and culture. It is committed to addressing the needs of primary and secondary education through this programme.

British teens get a taste of Lankan culture

UK teens were able to experience Sri Lankan culture recently in their country. Of course the surrounding was British but inside the room it was pure Sri Lankan. Some students for the first time in their lives were draped in sarees. They were fascinated by Sri Lankan national dresses. They also tasted Sri Lankan sweetmeats that they had never tasted before.

Two Sri Lankan teachers visited two schools in UK under the DFD Global Partnership project organised by the

 British Council. Kushlani a teacher of Malabe Boys' Model School visited South Bromsgrove Community High School in UK. The aim of her visit was to establish a partnership and promote Sri Lankan culture to the students.

During the visit, the two teachers celebrated a Sri Lankan Day with the students in the respective schools. The event was held on a grand scale. With the help of photographs of beautiful scenery taken from Sri Lanka both teachers were able to give a good insight about our Motherland to the students.

During the celebration the students dressed in traditional Sri Lankan costumes representing various ethnic groups. They welcomed their teachers with a sheaf of betel and greeted in Sinhala. The teachers and students tasted the Sri Lankan delicacies such as kiribath, kevum and kokis. They also learnt Sinhala children's songs.

Nilanthri Perera of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya visited Omagh High School in Northern Ireland. The main objective of her visit was to strengthen the existing partnership paving the way to understand different cultures in its true perspective. She conducted two lessons on Buddhism focusing on the scientific approach of meditation.

The students learnt the basics of Buddhism. They also had a lesson on cultural heritage of Sri Lanka.

The teachers Nilanthri and Kushlani thanked their principals, fellow teachers and all those who assisted them in making their visit to UK schools a success.