OLPC Sri Lanka

2007 status: orange
		orange

OLPC IN SRI LANKA

The OLPC Lanka Foundation was established in early 2008 to coordinate the roll out of XO Laptops in Sri Lanka.

Consisting of an eight member Board of Trustees and eight member Board of Management, the OLPC Lanka Foundation is a non-profit Trust that was registered to coordinate the efforts between OLPC Foundation and the Sri Lanka schools system under the Ministry of Education.

The Trustees are responsible for governance and fund raising. The Board of Management is responsible for operational and technical matters and overseas the relationship between OLPC/USA and Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rienzie T. Wijetilleke (Chairman of the Board of Trustees), Chairman Hatton National Bank
Mr. Devinda Subasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Former Ambassador to United States
Mr. Chandra Jayaratne, Former Chairman Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Kushil Gunasekera, Founder - Foundation of Goodness
Dr. (Mrs) Hiranthi Wijemanne, Former Chairperson National Child Protection Authority
Mr. Rajan Asirwatham, former Senior Partner KPMG Ford Rhodes & Thornton
Dr. Harsha Alles, Managing Director Gateway Colleges
Hon. Ameer Ismail, Chairman Office of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or corruption

OLPC Lanka Foundation is currently working with the Ministry of Education and the World Bank in deploying 1000 XO laptops to 9 schools in the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. In keeping with the OLPC concept of saturating the regions, we are seeking private sector participation to import an increased number of XO laptops and have secured funding for an additional 250 units for piloting in schools around the primary pilots. This roll out is targeted to be completed by end February 2009. The pilots would be closely monitored by both MoE and World Bank officials.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The principal language of Sri Lanka is Sinhala. The Tamil language is prevalent among the minority communities living predominently in the central, eastern and northern province in Sri Lanka although it is fairly common in other parts of the country as well. English, although not spoken in most instances, is generally understood by a substantial percentage of the general population. Due to the many opportunities available, both locally and overseas, to those who can read and write in English, English education is the most widely sought after along with IT skills training. The demand for both English and IT training is consistent throughout every part of the country.

The Sinhala Linux distribution has support for Sinhalese.