We Sri Lankans boast about a literacy rate of over 90%. Yes, statistically it’s true. But, just get out of your statistical frame of mind, and look at the stark reality. Most of our schools are not fit to be called schools in the true sense of the word.Those schools are so appalling that they simply cannot contribute towards sustaining a high literacy rate.
With nobody taking responsibility for anything, the Chief Justice and his team seem to be formulating policy at a rate. The latest is the formula recommended by the courts for Grade 1-admissions. The Courts ruled sometime back that the admission criteria are unconstitutional. Guarding the constitutions is their business. Good job, hats off.
The Tenth death anniversary of the late Professor Nandadasa Kodagoda falls tomorrow. Emeritus senior Professor in Forensic Medicine, Professor Nandadasa Kodagoda was a former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, and was later appointed its Vice Chancellor. He was the Chairman of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board and the Chairman of the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre. Professor Kodagoda was a popular public health communicator through the print and electronic media. At the public commemoration meeting which will be held Tomorrow, at 5.
The last computer literacy survey done by the Census and Statistics Department in 2004 puts the IT literacy of the 5-69 yrs population in Sri Lanka less than 10%. (See graph) Of course, one has to take these figures with a pinch of salt. The life expectance in Sri Lanka is not 69 years (It is 72 for males and 77 for females) so the figures are skewed more towards the younger population. Also it is noteworthy that the ‘IT literacy’ was defined in this survey as the ‘ability to operate a computer’ – even for a basic task like copying a file or playing games. So the 10% IT literacy rate does not mean much.