IT literacy will be doubled in two years

Chaminda Perera

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena yesterday said the IT literacy in Sri Lanka would be doubled within two years. He said that the country has seen drastic improvement in the IT sector within very short period.

He said the country's IT literacy was 30 percent last year and this would be increased to 60 percent by 2012.

The Minister was speaking at the opening of new IT laboratory at the Royal College of Colombo yesterday. The official website of the Royal College www.royalcollege.lk was also re launched by the Minister on this occasion.

He said the Presidential Secretariat jointly with the Education Ministry and lending agencies initiated a program to promote the IT and English Education after President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared the year 2009 as the Year of IT and English Education.

The improvements in the IT sector will make a great impact on the students and their future, he added.

He opined that the inequality of the education sector can only be quelled by providing facilities enjoyed by the students in Colombo schools such as Royal College to the students in the rural schools.

He commended the Royal College, Colombo for giving necessary guidance to the less privileged schools in the rural areas and terrorist threatened villages in the past.

Minister Gunawardena said the country's total income is Rs. 800 billion and the Education Sector receives more than Rs. 100 billion. There was a habit that private sector and the philanthropists always came forward to improve the education and health sectors in the past and this situation changed with the introduction of the open economic system.