Ministry of Education enables digital and interactive classrooms with Microsoft

From left: Microsoft South East Asia New Markets Philanthropy Lead Janakie Karunaratne, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives Cloud Solutions Director Harsha Randeny, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Hasitha Abeywardena, Ministry of Education Secretary Chithrananda, Ministry of Education State Secretary Chandrasekara, Ministry of Education Additional Secretary Premathilaka, and ICT Director of Education Ilapperuma

Microsoft and the Ministry of Education signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 14 May to advance remote pedagogy during a time when the health and safety of educators and students is paramount. The agreement will enable educators to embrace Microsoft Office 365 tools and build their IT competence, while efficiently engaging students in virtual classrooms.

Under the MOU, Microsoft will support the ministry by providing students, teachers, pirivenas, teacher training schools, and ministry officials with free access to Microsoft Office 365 tools, such as OneNote, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams, across PCs, tablets and smartphones to complement a ‘distance learning’ initiative for students and teachers.

The MOU was signed under the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force – Education to look into the continuation of the education sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement was signed by Secretary to the Ministry of Education N. H. M. Chithrananda and Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Hasitha Abeywardena on behalf of their respective organisations. Microsoft General Manager for Southeast Asia New Markets in Asia Pacific Sook Hoon Cheah also joined the signing via Microsoft Teams. 

Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.