A Memorandum of Understanding on ‘Establishment of 60 Smart Classrooms in Selected Schools’ in the plantation regions of Sri Lanka, with grant assistance of LKR 508 million from Government of India, was signed and exchanged by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka – Mr. Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Mr B.K. Prabhath Chandrakeerthi today (Jan. 16).

The project envisages establishment of 60 smart classrooms for students in 48 schools in Nuwara Eliya and 6 schools each in Kandy and Badulla Districts identified by the Government of Sri Lanka. 

The initiative will enhance knowledge-impartment at the schools, bring learning benefits to the students and also promote information and communications technology integration in these schools.

A statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo further states :

With a development cooperation portfolio with Sri Lanka of over USD 5 billion, India’s people-centric development assistance initiatives in virtually all major sectors are bringing a positive impact in the day-to-day lives of the people of Sri Lanka across all the 25 districts of the country.

The project of establishment of smart classrooms would be yet another initiative in line with the numerous past and ongoing development partnership projects of India in Sri Lanka in the education sector. A selection of a few instances would include setting up of English language laboratories in all provinces of the country; establishment and renovation of auditoriums at numerous institutions across the country, including the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at Ruhuna University; construction of a multi-ethnic tri-lingual school at Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province; renovation works at over 100 schools in the Northern Province; supply of 110 buses to educational institutions across the island; support to vocational training institutions; establishment of smart classrooms and computer labs in 200 schools in the Southern Province; financial assistance to students at University of Jaffna and Eastern University Batticaloa from economically weaker sections of society; among many others. Diplomatic Letters were recently exchanged by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka for doubling the grant support of Government of India to a project of up-gradation of 9 plantation schools. A 3-month teacher-training program in STEM subjects for plantation schools was also conducted recently under the multi-sectoral grant assistance of INR 750 million announced last year to mark 200 years of arrival of Indian-origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka. Over 2000 teachers in plantation schools of Sri Lanka benefitted from the program.

During President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s four-day state visit to China, Sri Lanka marked a significant milestone by securing the largest foreign direct investment to date. This significant achievement was formalized this morning (16) with the signing of an agreement between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Energy and Sinopec, a leading Chinese international petroleum corporation.  

Under this $3.7 billion investment, a state-of-the-art oil refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels will be constructed in the Hambantota region. A substantial portion of the refinery’s output is planned for export, further enhancing the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.  

This major investment from China is expected to bolster Sri Lanka’s economic growth while uplifting the livelihoods of low-income communities in the Hambantota area. Moreover, the benefits of this project are anticipated to positively impact the overall Sri Lankan population in the near future.  

The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Tourism Vijitha Herath, Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake and Director General of Government Information H. S. K. J. Bandara, alongside other dignitaries.  

(President’s Media Division)

Two persons have been killed in a shooting incident in front of the Mannar Court around 9.20 a.m. today (Jan. 16).

Two more who were injured, have been admitted to the Mannar Hospital for treatment.

According to reports, the shooting was carried out by two assailants on a motorcycle.