Education geared for technological revolution – Dinesh

Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena said on Wednesday courses of study would be designed to enable every university student to learn Information Technology (IT).

Accordingly, students at the university, whether they choose IT as a subject or not, would pass out as students equipped with IT skills, the Minister said. The Minister further said the scheme should be implemented at the school level as well.

Minister Gunawardena said so, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the three- storeyed building of the Faculty of Technology of the Malabe Boys’ College on 05 January 2022.

According to recorded history, Kings Mayadunna and Rajasinghe used indigenous technology to achieve victory over the Portuguese, and those weapons were manufactured with the technology available in the country at the time. “History tells us that these were some of the most unique weapons in the world,” said the Minister of Education, Dinesh Gunawardena. Historians tell us that ancient Sri Lankans used a sword which was about the longest in the world. He said the technology used at the time was advanced.

The Minister also recollected the history of the establishment of the Steel Corporation. He said that with the cooperation of Russia, the steel industry in Sri Lanka had been established step by step and the iron ore resources in the country had enabled the development of it. He also said that if the Steel Corporation had worked out a plan with the universities of the country, we would not have had to hand over expensive steel projects to overseas companies. He said steel had helped some countries had achieved their development goals fast.

The Education Ministry’s plan covered all areas that could contribute to opening the doors of technology to all children, Minister Gunawardena said.