Survey Shows Majority of Sri Lanka's Teachers Lack Computer Literacy

This news piece announces that a survey conducted by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education has found that around 60% of teachers in the country lack computer and English literacy skills that are needed in a modern teaching environment. The preliminary report of the Census on Computer Literacy of Teachers conducted among government schools, approved private schools, and Pirivenas shows that Sri Lanka's computer literacy among teachers varies between 30% and 40% across districts.

Ministry officials speculate that literacy in English is one factor contributing to teachers' lack of literacy in information and communication technology (ICT); only 53.7% of teachers have the ability to read and understand documents written in English. Another factor might be equipment- and infrastructure-related. Out of nearly 9,000 schools and Pirivenas in the census, only 17% had computer laboratories, only 76% have electricity, only 26.2% have telecommunication facilities, and less than 10% have internet facilities. In response, the Ministry has given 100 computer laboratories that run on solar energy to schools without electricity, and 500 are scheduled to be built in 2007.

The survey found that the student-to-computer ratio is approximately 137 to 1, whereas the teacher-to-computer ratio stands at 7 to 1; however, the student-to-computer-literate-teacher ratio is around 56 to 1, which is 3 times higher than the general student-to-teacher ratio.

The Education Minister explains that 10 centres that teach ICT and English literacy to teachers have already been established; the goal is to build a total of 35 such centres. Approximately 45,000 teachers of the 200,000 in Sri Lanka have completed training in ICT to date.