20000224

All schools to get

computers in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Education Ministry will provide computers to all the 10,000 government-run schools in the next five years, a government statement said on Wednesday.

At least two computers will be provided to each school where computer science is being introduced as a subject for the first time under the ongoing educational reforms, said the statement.

The World Bank will portly finance the project of training teachers. A total of 1,795 computers worth 160 million rupees (dollars 2.2 million) have already been provided to selected national schools and district level schools, including 69 in the war affected northern and eastern regions. The new programme will cover all the schools in the country of 18.6 million people.ÑAP