India and China to assist renewing SL Digital Educational Initiative Launched in 2018
July 12, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of a geopolitical race as both India and China extend their support for the country’s digital educational reform initiative, aimed at upgrading educational infrastructure nationwide.
On Wednesday, the Finance Ministry of Sri Lanka signed an agreement with the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) for a project under the China-Aid program. This project, called the Digital Transformation of General Education, focuses on enhancing the country’s educational sector with state-of-the-art technology.
Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary, Mahinda Siriwardana, announced the agreement on July 11 via Twitter.
The grant aims to catalyze the digital transformation of Sri Lanka’s education sector by establishing modern educational infrastructure, including an Educational Data Centre, a Multimedia Distance Learning and Conference Solution, and a National Streaming Hub.
In its initial phase, the project will introduce advanced smart classroom solutions, featuring high-definition interactive distance learning, to 900 classrooms across 500 schools.
This initiative is designed to enhance the teaching and learning experience and support ongoing education sector reforms aimed at achieving educational equity through digital transformation.
The grant also covers necessary software and technical training, which will be provided by the Chinese government. This comprehensive support is expected to ensure the sustainable and effective implementation of digital education infrastructure in Sri Lanka.
Additionally, Sri Lanka plans to construct 60 smart classrooms in selected schools within the Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy, and Badulla Districts, with funding from the Indian Government. This was confirmed by Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena.
Furthermore, the main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) led By Sajith Premadasa , has been actively distributing smart classroom technology to schools across the country, although the funding sources for this initiative are unclear.
This digital educational initiative was first launched in 2018 when the current President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was the Prime Minister.
However, it faced opposition and protests from political parties and was halted following a change in government. Despite these challenges, smart classrooms were developed in several schools across Sri Lanka during the 2018-2019 period.
These smart classrooms included technology-enhanced educational components such as interactive whiteboards, classroom and multimedia control centers, computers, tablets, audio/video elements, and classroom management systems.
A program led by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education provided five desktop computers, five laptops, and one interactive smartboard to each school for use among Grade 12 students. As of 2018, 197 schools had received this equipment, representing a broad coverage across all provinces.
Sri Lanka’s renewed focus on digital education, with significant support from both India and China, marks a crucial step in advancing the country’s educational infrastructure and addressing the need for modern, equitable learning environments
