DP Education kicks off initiative to build US$ 7.5 b worth ‘IT skills pool’

 DP Education Founder and 

MP Dhammika Perera

•  DP Education IT Campus Founder Dhammika Perera says program being rolled out to offer Rs. 2.5 m worth full IT education course to 1 million students free-of-charge over five years
•  Trilingual Coding course in first stage integrates six global platforms; second stage includes Full Stack Developer and Cloud Computing courses
•  Course content developed in partnership with Universities of Moratuwa, Ruhuna and Kelaniya and SLASSCOM
•  Insists philanthropic initiative would build a highly ICT-competent human resource pool enabling Sri Lanka to properly harness knowledge economy potential

 

DP Education has kicked off an initiative of gigantic economic importance – to empower one million students free of charge with global IT knowledge and skills worth US$ 7.5 billion in five years.

The estimated value of knowledge and skills transfer via the philanthropic gesture is on the basis of Rs. 2.5 million per student cost incurred by DP Education IT Campus or a total of Rs. 2,500 billion or US$ 7.5 billion over the five-year period.

The open online platform championed by the Dhammika and Priscilla Perera Foundation envisions setting up a DP Education IT Campus in each of the 331 Divisional Secretary (DS) Divisions across the country. These centres will accommodate between 750 and 2,100 students. At present 50 functioning centres are teaching over 40,000 students. Additionally, 120,000 students are engaged in online learning for the first two stages. The plan includes opening 50 more centres by the end of 2023 with 30 currently under construction.

DP Education Coding School in the first stage integrates six global platforms, including CODE.org, Thunkable, Pictoblox, Microbit, COSPACES and HTML. The curriculum available in Sinhala, Tamil and English language consists of 324 projects, each with 324 accompanying homework assignments. 

Global price of this course excluding homework is US$ 7,500. 

The second stage includes Full Stack Developer and Cloud Computing courses from the University of Moratuwa. The third stage allows students to pursue free courses offered by DP Education IT Campus in collaboration with Universities of Moratuwa, Kelaniya, and Ruhuna. 

The course content is developed jointly by DP Education, the universities and the Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM), the national chamber for the knowledge and innovation industry.

The curriculum›s first and second stage can be accessed through smartphones. The third and final stage requires a computer or laptop. The course targets completion within two years for a regular school student (two hours per week plus homework) and six months for those out of school and can dedicate 12 hours per week.

“The broader initiative will create an ICT talent pool empowered by $ 7.5 billion or Rs. 2,500 billion worth IT education in the next five years. This skilled human resource pool can be harnessed by Sri Lanka to effectively tap the country’s knowledge economy growth potential as well as boost foreign exchange earnings,” said DP Education Founder Dhammika Perera.