‘IT to accelerate Southern Province development’

Emphasizing the need of IT for the development of the country, Southern Province Minster of Education Chandima Rasaputra, who is an IT expert plans to initiate a novel approach to uplift education in the Southern Province. The Daily News sat with him to clarify his ideas, visions, difficulties he is confronted with and measures to be taken in his momentous exercise of implementing the initiative of Dakunen Issarakaramu

Uvindu ILLEPERUMA

Q: What do you hope to achieve by the Dakunen Issarakaramu initiative?

A: Expanding the use of information technology is one of the development priorities of this government.

Southern Province Minster of Education Chandima Rasaputra. Picture by Mahinda Vithanachchi

I was in the US for 25 years and was involved in IT which greatly contributes to the US economy. The Southern Province, which mainly depends on agriculture, needs to be amalgamated with IT for production to increase. But lands are limited. Therefore, we need to apply IT to serve development purposes.

With the experience I have in IT, I can contribute to a positive outcome through applying my knowledge. I do not have any successor to enter politics. Thus, this is the first and last chance I have to develop the education sector of the Southern Province.

The country is now ready to usher in a new era with accelerated development. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has already created the ideal environment for the development of the country for which we all have to be committed.

We give priority, for the first time in our province, for education. That is a characteristic of Dakunen Issaarakaramu.

Q: What are the evaluations done on education in the Southern Province and what are the loopholes you have already noted?

A: I mostly depend on data. I evaluate the present situation in relation to the past. There are schools here that never had an English teacher. Students’ marks for subjects, such as, Sinhala, History and Religion are satisfactory. But the marks they get for subjects such as Science, Mathematics and English are not satisfactory at all. The main reason for this is the lack of teachers for these subjects.

Q: Teachers are sometimes transferred to remote areas and they do not like this. In such instances maximum productivity cannot be achieved. Please comment.

A: Speaking about myself, I like the environment in which I live and I am familiar with it. I like to sleep in my own bed. Similarly, the others would want the same thing. I know they will be disheartened if they are made to go to remote areas. I firmly believe that every government servant should live within 20kms of their work place, where they can reach it within 45 minutes. But this is not possible all the time. But I am planning to establish hostels for teachers in remote areas. We are planning to establish two Star model studio type apartments. In this way, teachers in the area’s schools can reside and they could share their knowledge and experiences with others. We plan to establish libraries there too. In future, I hope to remove this requirement of working in remote areas as I need satisfied teachers to get the maximum benefits out of them.

Q: What are your plans regarding the development of IT?

A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa needs this country to be Asia’s knowledge hub. Therefore, I am striving to make the Southern Province Sri Lanka’s knowledge hub. I am planning to provide every school with a computer. This is only the first step.

Q: An unpleasant incident took place recently in a school in Akuressa where a little girl was sexually molested? What will happen to the culprits?

A: I am not allowed to comment on that as the case is pending in court. The culprits will be given due punishment. No one is allowed to bring alcohol to government property. I visited the place no sooner I was informed. I went there to prevent the second crime which could have happened.

That innocent little girl was raped in a school where A-L question papers are distributed and the answer papers were collected from the examination centres nearby. If this place was raided, the A-L results of that place would have to be cancelled. Such a thing did not happen as we took action as soon as possible.

When students are not in, the school is isolated. I will soon establish regulations not to let this place be isolated. Only certain people will be allowed entry.

The victim is still receiving treatment at the ICU. This kind of mentally disturbed people are around us. Parents should always be careful about their children who are still immature.