PM reviews progress of education digitalisation programme

Colombo, July 22 (Daily Mirror) - Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has reviewed the progress of Sri Lanka’s education digitalisation programme and future initiatives aimed at strengthening digital facilities in schools.

The Prime Minister held a discussion at Parliament on July 21 with officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Digital Economy, GovTech, Sri Lanka Air Force, Sri Lanka Telecom, Dialog and other institutions to assess the ongoing digitalisation efforts.

The discussion focused on providing the required digital infrastructure to support the new education reforms introduced by the government. Under the guidance of Prime Minister’s Secretary Pradeep Saputhanthree and a specially appointed task force, several projects have been implemented over the past year, including the installation of digital infrastructure in schools, provision of smart boards, internet facilities and computers.

Officials informed the meeting that the Human Resource Management (HRM) module of the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), developed with technical assistance from the Sri Lanka Air Force, has been fully completed in four provinces. The remaining five provinces are expected to be included within the next three months.

The NEMIS system will be used for teacher transfers in the future, and the process has already commenced in the Sabaragamuwa and Western provinces. The Human Resource Management module will also be updated continuously with new data.

The progress of providing internet facilities to schools through fibre technology was also reviewed. It was decided to complete the fibre connectivity programme by December 31, while wireless or satellite technology will be considered for schools where fibre connections are not practically feasible.

The Education Ministry Secretary has been instructed to evaluate competitive proposals from service providers and take necessary action regarding connectivity solutions.

The meeting also discussed future plans, including the full implementation of the Learning Management System (LMS) and NEMIS platforms, connecting all schools to these systems, upgrading the e-Thaksalawa online learning platform, and signing an agreement between the Ministry of Education and GovTech for further digital transformation of the education sector.

Minister of Children and Women’s Affairs Saroja Savitri Paulraj, Deputy Minister of Digital Economic Affairs Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Madhura Seneviratne, Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Kaushalya Ariyaratne, government officials and senior ministry officials also participated in the discussion.