29 September 2016 12:04 am
Sri Lanka’s computer literacy rose to 27.1 percent in 2015 compared to 16.1 percent in the 2006/07 period, a survey conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS)
has revealed.
Among the residential sectors, the urban sector showed a computer literacy rate of 39.2 percent, while the computer literacy of rural and estate sectors were 25.5 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively.
According to the findings of the survey, the computer literacy among males was 29.1 percent, higher than that of 25.3 percent among females. Compared to all the age groups, the age between 15 – 19 years reported the highest computer literacy rate of 58.7 percent. Among educational levels, the highest computer literacy rate of 70 percent was reported from the group of G.C.E. (A/L) or above level of education. The survey results further reveal that the computer literacy is very high (69.5 percent) among those who are literate in English language.
In a statement, DCS Director General Amara Satharasinghe said one out of every four households in Sri Lanka has a computer, not only in urban areas but also in rural areas. However, the availability of computers in the estate area is 4.5 percent.
The highest computer availability was reported from the Western Province (38.5 percent), while the lowest availability is reported from the Uva Province
(12.5 percent).
Similarly, the Colombo District showed the highest percentage (28.1 percent) of population using Internet while the Badulla District shows the lowest percentage
(3.5 percent).
Every 12 out of 100 persons in the age group of five to 69 years have used the Internet facility and nine out of 100 persons have used the email facility at least once during the 12-month period of 2015.
Computer literacy among the employed population in Sri Lanka is 52.0 percent. Interestingly, the computer literacy among unemployed youth remained very high in 2015.
According to the survey results, the computer literacy rate of unemployed youths in age groups 20–24 years and 25–29 years is 80.7 and 78.9 percent, respectively.