SJB commences pilot project to donate Smart Boards to schools

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Samagi Jana Balawegaya has commenced a pilot program to donate Smart Boards and computers to the school system in Sri Lanka, on Friday (24) as one of the milestones in the journey towards a digital economy through information technology.

The project launched based on a concept of the Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa, is being implemented targeting public schools. 

The Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa speaking on the occasion stated that in the context of the digital revolution being active worldwide as an important part of the fourth Industrial Revolution, only 22. 2% of households in Sri Lanka have access to a computer, and only 75% of State school students have access to computers, out of which only 35% have access to the internet, while  a serious shortage of teachers in the IT field also exists. 

Citing projects such as the 'Unicorn project', Premadasa said that such projects should be the country's goal as well, adding that Sri Lanka should move towards the goal of creating an IT revolution by 2022 and 2023, with the goal of creating at least 200,000 direct jobs, 400,000 indirect jobs, and a thousand projects across the country.