Lankan teens computer savvy

Rasika Somarathna

*Western Province tops table

*Males slightly ahead of females

*Most Internet users in WP

Sri Lanka’s younger generation is becoming increasingly computer savvy with the 15 to 19 age group topping the literacy ratio with 47.6 percent followed by the 20-24 age group 40.6 percent and the least literate being the 60-69 age group with 2.8 percent, a Census and Statistics Department survey revealed.

The survey which shows an appreciable overall growth of over 25 percent in all key sectors such as ownership, awareness and literacy, added that the overall literacy rate in the country has increased from 16.1 percent in 2006-2007 to 20.3 in 2009. Computer awareness too has gone up from 37.1 percent to 43.8 percent.

Computer awareness in the urban population has gone up to 60 percent in comparison to 47.4 percent recorded in 2006-07. The awareness of rural population too has gone up from 36.9 in 2006-07 to 43 percent in 2009, followed by the estate sector which has also grown to 15.8 from 10.3 in 2006-07.

Western province tops the table with 28 percent while the Eastern province is considered the least literate 4.9 percent. According to overall figures, males ( 22 percent) are slightly ahead of females (18.7 percent) in computer literacy.

Among the employed population 40.6 percent are computer literate with senior managers enjoying a higher share of 85.9 percent.

Educational levels too have had its say in computer literacy with 59.7 percent with GCE Advanced Level or above qualifications being computer literate.

According to the survey, 23.9 percent of urban population use Internet while in rural areas the figure is 11.1 percent and estate sector 9.2 percent. The Western province has the most number of Internet users with 19.2 percent and northwestern the least with 6.3 percent.

Households surveys conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics on computer literacy has excluded the Northern Province due to logistic difficulties.

With President Mahinda Rajapaksa, initiating with large investments on English language and ICT development projects, formally declared 2009 as the Year of English and Information Technology and the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) was called to measure e–readiness of the public. Two surveys had been conducted on computer literacy in 2004 and 2006-07 and in 2009 the third.

Computer Literacy Survey (CLS) is to continue hereafter as a regular household survey along with the Labour Force Survey (LFS) which is also conducted by the DCS in every year around.

A nationally distributed sample of 10,150 households with 31,302 persons aged five – 69 has been enumerated for this issue of the CLS and all the districts other than the districts in the Northern province being covered.