Uva Province celebrates progress of ICT with intel
In keeping with its drive to improve citizens’ standard of living
through ICT, the Uva province showcased its transformation from an area
that was deprived of technology to an area that can now be considered a
role model in ICT led development for the rest of Sri Lanka.
Indika De Zoysa, Country Business Manager, Intel EM Ltd Sri
Lanka liaison office, handing over a Classmate PC to Shashindra
Rajapaksa, Chief Minister, Uva Province |
With several programs launched since 2005, the province has worked
closely with the Ministry of Education and Intel Sri Lanka to turnaround
the education scenario. The province now has close to 2,500 teachers
trained in using ICT under the Intel Teach program.
With over 110 Classmate PCs across 6 labs, students in the province
have also been provided with the opportunity to experience one-to-one
learning.
As part of the celebrations, Shashindra Rajapaksa, Chief Minister of
the Uva Province, inaugurated the province’s 6th Classmate PC Lab to the
Monaragala Royal College in the presence of Anura Dissanayake,
Additional Secretary to H.E. the President’s Office, Anura De Silva,
EKSP Project Manager, Uva province, Indika de Zoysa, Country Business
Manager, Intel Sri Lanka, and other dignitaries at an event held in
Colombo today.
Speaking at the event, Shashindra Rajapaksa stated, “We believe that
ICT is a main driver of development today and that an ICT-enabled
education system empowers individuals to contribute to economic and
social progress. Working together with the Ministry of Education and
Intel Sri Lanka, we have made significant progress in providing our
students with ICT skills for a better future.
From training our teachers in ICT to improving connectivity and
access to relevant content for students, we are doing everything
necessary to provide our students with the best learning experience.”
“It is heartening to see how the Uva province has leveraged ICT to
bring about development. Intel’s contribution along with the efforts of
the Ministry of Education will give students the opportunity to enhance
their learning experience, create career opportunities and gain skills
that are extremely valuable in the marketplace that can change their
lives.
Projects such as these will have a significant impact on the overall
development of this area in the longer run,” said Anura Dissanayake,
Additional Secretary to the President’s Office.
Indika de Zoysa, Country Business Manager, Intel Sri Lanka said, “The
Uva province’s commitment to ICT led initiatives has been very
encouraging over the years.
This has motivated us to continue to work with them and take the
benefits of ICT to its citizens.
In education, we are focusing our combined efforts on integrating
technology into class rooms teachers trained in using ICT to conduct
their classes, locally relevant digital content available on skoool.lk
that can be accessed by each student individually on Classmate PCs.” The
Intel World Ahead Program aims to enhance lives by accelerating access
to uncompromised technology for everyone, anywhere in the world.
In Sri Lanka, the program works closely with the Government,
especially the Ministry of Education. From 2006, the Intel Teach teacher
professional development program has trained more than 25,000 teachers
touching the lives of over 800,000 students across the island which adds
up to 10% of the teachers, 15% of the schools and 20% of students in Sri
Lanka.
Working with the University of Moratuwa, Intel has also provided on
Skoool.lk, an interactive website which provides teachers and students
online access to science and mathematics resources and tools set in an
engaging, multimedia environment to help improve learning.
With over 3,000 unique visitors per day, the popularity of the
website has encouraged Intel to work on localizing the content to
Sinhala and Tamil languages. Since 2008, Intel has sponsored 21 students
to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in
the USA.
Our students have won 6 awards at the event, regarded as the world’s
largest pre-college science competition. Intel has also donated over 600
Classmate PCs to schools around the country under the programme. |