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Thursday, 30 September 2010 04:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Representing Intel were Navin Shenoy Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group, General Manager Asia-Pacific Region, Intel Corporation and Indika De Zoysa, Country Business Manager, Intel EM Limited, Sri Lanka.
Among the items that were brought out for discussion was the localisation of the skoool.lk web site that would be carried out in due course targeting both the Sinhala and Tamil audiences.
The skoool.lk web site was officially unveiled in July 2010 with the objective of augmenting the level of education in Sri Lanka. The website currently receives about 100,000 visitors per month. The entire process of localisation of the website into Sinhala will be carried out from January 2011 onwards.
Commenting on this effort, Sunil S. Sirisena, Secretary – Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka, stated: “I would like to commend Intel for its efforts in launching their unique skoool.lk programme in Sri Lanka. I am happy that Intel is now working towards localising this website in Sinhala and Tamil to ensure a more cohesive level of education in our beautiful island.”
Additionally a highlight of the day’s events was the agreement that was reached to expand the Intel Teach programme to areas in the south of the country. The programme, which is the largest and most successful of its kind, originated with an intention of empowering teachers with technology in order to help them become more effective educators.
The Intel Teach programme is a public private partnership in collaboration with educators and the Government alike. Around 17,000 teachers have been trained so far through this programme and with the intended expansion into the south of the country more than 2,500 in-service teachers will be trained.
Talking about the programme, de Zoysa said: “We believe that education undoubtedly plays an integral role in the growth of a nation and teachers play an extremely important part in the entire education system. With the expansion of the Intel Teach programme to the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, we will now be able to empower more teachers to put technology to best use in a classroom environment thereby enabling a better learning experience for thousands of students.”
Intel also said that 150 Classmate PCs would be donated to a number of schools that will be chosen from 30 new e-villages in the vicinity of the north and east part of Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Education wholeheartedly acknowledged and applauded this initiative.
Making his observations on the above, Anura Dissanayake, Additional Secretary – Ministry of Education and Project Director – Education for Knowledge Society Project said: “With these generous donations Intel has yet again renewed their commitment towards improving the education environment of our children. These facilities will prove vital in spreading the message of growth and development in these remote parts of the country where technology is finding its way through. Their efforts must be commended.”
Speaking about Intel’s overall efforts in Sri Lanka, Shenoy commented: “The efforts undertaken by Intel in Sri Lanka reiterate our commitment in this nation. Intel continues to remain focused on making effective use of technology to improve education levels in Sri Lanka. We believe that our strong partnership and relationship with the government and local ecosystem will help us put Sri Lanka on the global map.”
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live.
