IT centre in Sri Lankan village
Ketawala, a small village in north-western Sri Lanka, has recently got its own IT centre catering to both school children and adult population of the area. The centre imparts computer skills and facilitates enhanced interaction between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic groups living in the locality.
Not long ago young Ruwini, from the little known village of Ketawala in Mawathagama in north-western Sri Lanka won the admiration of all when she confidently delivered a welcome address in fluent English to an audience which included the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The occasion was the e-Society Awards Ceremony of the ICT Agency held at the Presidential Secretariat. Ruwini clearly epitomised the capabilities of our rural youth.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) recognising the potential of these young children in Ketawala, moved to give them the basic infrastructure that would pave the way for a better education and improved livelihood.
On the May 15, 2008 Ketawala, got its own IT Centre. The project was the outcome of a collaborative venture between LearnAid of Kuwait, the ICTA and the Kshasthriya Rajaputhra Weerasinghe Foundation (KRWF) a well known philanthropic organisation in Mawathagama.
- Children learning at the centre / Photo credit: ICTA
The ICTA is the apex body for ICT policy and direction for the nation; it is also the implementing body of the e-Sri Lanka initiative, a project under the World Bank.
LearnAid is a multinational, not-for-profit organisation based in Kuwait. All its activities are geared towards promoting education, with the learning of computing skills and English language being its primary focus. Over the past few years LearnAid has helped children in many villages in Sri Lanka and two schools in Pakistan and the Philippines as well.
The ICTA which, through its Nenasala Project has already developed a network of rural ICT Centres supplied the hardware and educational software. Internet connectivity to the Centre is also being provided by the ICTA.
The centre comprises a computer training unit and a lecture hall. It will cater to children of both Sinhala and Tamil communities in the area – the children of Ketawala Vidyalaya, Muwankanda Saraswathi Hindu Vidyalaya, and Gonagaladeniya Primary School.
It is expected that the enhanced interaction between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic groups living in the locality through this common resource will be an added benefit that will arise from the venture. Although largely targeted at school children and young school leavers it is expected that the centre would serve the needs of the adult population as well.
This project is a prime example of a collaboration between diverse religions and ethnicities and worthy of emulation. The building itself has been funded by donors of Islamic faith through the intervention of Victor Ramanan, a Tamil Christian living in the UK while it is built on land donated by the local Buddhist temple and serves both the Sinhala and Tamil communities in the village.
