Sri Lanka Education Forum

  Keith Ng     16 May 2007   "The Future. Today." boasts a rusty billboard pushing mobile phone service in Batticaloa, a coastal town in Sri Lanka’s troubled eastern province.  Batticaloa is at the center of a renewed military campaign to drive out the separatist forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. From bases around the district and from the town itself, government artillery bombards suspected Tiger positions day and night. For every new area leveled by the artillery, an influx of refugees arrives in the town with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  The heavy military presence has done nothing to stop the killings ...

Or Has IT even begun to matter in the business sector in Sri Lanka? Is it because we focus on the technology, not the information management applications of IT? Does the problem lie with IT educators who have not had exposure? Does IT Matter?’’ was the topic of the LBR-LBO Chief Information Officer Forum yesterday (May 16, 2007).  The basis for the title was an article published in the May 2003 edition of the Harvard Business Review by Nicholas G. Carr Titled IT (Information Technology) does not matter. Nicholas Carr argues that IT has become just another commodity input to businesses and that IT can ...

There have been some posts about IT education in Sri Lanka. This article, written and first appeared in a business magazine in 2003, illustrates the job opportunities in the Sri Lankan IT field and what sort of education one should have to target the entry level jobs available in the market. Things might have changed a bit since then, but there might be few still who might find it useful. Jobs in IT – What path to follow?   It sounds so peculiar that once we lived in a world where there was not a single ‘IT Professional’. However, not surprisingly, more than three decades later the first ...

Disaster in Education : Case in Sri Lanka We need to address following issues 1) is this the result of so called FREE ( Free of Charge- Nomile) Education in Sri Lanka ? 2) We have a strong feeling that the 48+% who passed the GCE have attended tution classes? 3) Do examiners qualified to set papers? ( Of course they are Senior Academics). Can they or teachers answer them in examination conditions successfully? 4) Even if all 100% pass the GCE(O/L) is it an achievment? . We don't think it will not make any change in this country 5) What is the % of politicians ...

 National Policy on Information Technology in School Education Source : http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=1397 In an effort to fully utilise funding and other relevant resources, the Government of Sri Lanka established an IT Education Unit at the Ministry of Education in February 2001 and prepared a National Policy on School IT Education, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in October 2001. A six year strategic plan was implemented based on this policy.     Introduction The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) of Sri Lanka is of the view that Sri Lanka, as a nation, is lagging behind in the development of Information Technology (IT), when compared ...

2007 World Forum on Early Care and Education May 15 – 18, 2007 Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Over 700 early childhood administrators, trainers, caregivers, public officials, and advocates from 70+ countries will gather in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for World Forum 2007. At this seventh World Forum, delegates will exchange ideas about the quality of services for young children in diverse settings.  For more information visit : http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wf2007/  

 Who Signed Tara Harrold Agreement ? Is it Dr. Tara de Mel  under the President Chandrika Kumarathunga or Dr. P.B. Jatyasundara under the President Mahinda Rajapakse. ? According to informed  sources  Dr. P.B Jayasundara  as the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance  signed the so called “ Tara-Harrold Agreement". It is important to notice that the President Mahinda Rajapakse is the Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Finance. According to our opinion there is no much issue in this agreement. But we have certain issues to be raised. 1)      What is the agreement signed by Dr. PB and World Bank ( Tara Harrold ...

Councils in England are being reminded that parents have the right to educate their children at home if they wish. Proposed Department for Education and Skills guidelines on "elective home education" stress that education is compulsory but schooling is not. Councils should offer support to home educators, and parents must see that their children are suitably educated. But the authorities have no right to enter people's homes or make routine checks on children's progress. The department has been discussing the issue with several groups representing home educators and with local authorities. It has decided not to propose any changes to current monitoring arrangements ...

What happened to National ICT Education Drive ? As we all agree ICT Literacy is considered as one of the very important components of the Education in the 21st century. Since 1980s various attempts were made to bring computers into the school curriculum. Unfortunately only in 2004, ICT was introduced as a subject in Grade 12 (A/L) (GIT) and subject in O/L(OL-IT) in Sri Lanka. In 2005 Ministry of Education launched an ICT Literacy Drive proposing Department of Examination to conduct ICT Literacy Examination Island wide. According to this any Sri Lankan could sit for ICT Literacy Examination without any pre ...