What Sri Lankan Teachers are Going Through While Running Their Online Classes

Shashith Randima works here in Colombo, he went on leave last month and got stuck in his home town due to the travel ban imposed by the Government of Sri Lanka due to prevailing covid-19 pandemic. So his current role is to provide technical support to his mother who runs online classes for Grade 3 (8 years old) students in deep rural school in southern Sri Lanka.

Following is his experience what he posted on social media, but I have personally spoken him to verify the same before publishing it here;

Shashith Randima's Mother who is a Government Teacher Conducting a Online Class for Grade 3 Students

Photo courtesy of Shashith Randima

"I have become the official technician of my mother's online class.

1. The Zoom link must be posted the night before the class starts, otherwise you will be scolded by the mother.
2. I should stay close to her until the class is over. If the zoom session get disconnected then, I have to reconnect.
3. When children are shouting that they can't see the teacher, then I should attend to that and give immediate solutions.
4. My phone stand has been given to her, (It is not allowed to remove even after the class is over 🤦)
5. WhatsApp group should be handled by myself, and the meaning of the stickers sent by the students should be explained to her
6. Links of videos sent to children on YouTube should also be posted on that group.
7. The messages given to children should also be type in Sinhala language.
8. Whenever she asks to show a particular photo to the students, I should be ready to share the screen. 
9. When kids start shouting, everyone's mics should be turned off by me.
10. Even though I schedule the meeting, I have to teach my mother all the details of the zoom app, how to do it.
11. Stripes should also be drawn with a permanent marker on the white board.
12. Before taking classes everyday, check the data balance of the phone and reload if the data package is over.
13. On top of all those, before the class start I am supposed to tell my mom whether her dress is beautiful and he hair is tidy.
14. Everything is fine. biggest challenge is I have to listen to Grade 3 lecture everyday for two and half hours 😂
15. (When teaching Sinhalese, my little brother does makeup to pretend as a scarecrow or sometimes a grandfather, if he wasn't there, I would have to do that too 😂)
16. Whatever it is, I think the hardest thing is my mom's teaching. I think it's harder than anything written above. The fact that they are teaching online by while handling some kids ❤ 
17. My mother is very proud of her online classes, she proudly talk about it, whenever she talks to anyone. So being a part of that class is a pride for me too ❤🙏"

Note: base on true experience of Shashith Randima 

Sameera.

Guru.lk – Digital Educational Platform – learn anywhere anytime

Guru will revolutionize the distance education in Sri Lanka

Guru.lk - learn anywhere anytime

Children go online for various reasons, but most of the time those reasons do not add any value for those who go online. But they can’t be blamed for just wasting time, money and international bandwidth as they are digital consumers with very little choice.  

Guru.lk has been launched as a solution to the dearth of enriching educational online content here in Sri Lanka. System is open for anyone who wants to learn and users can pay for the services they consume through Dialog “Add to Bill”, eZ Cash or Credit Cards.

Current focus is on Ordinary Level (O/L) examination and students can register for following courses by just visiting www.guru.lk or sending a SMS with course code to 445.

Code	Subject	Medium Conducted	Daily Rental	Monthly Rental
33000	Spin Bowling by Rangana Herath	Sinhala/English	LKR 04.00	LKR 240.00
11001	O/L Science Revision	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11002	O/L Maths Revision	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11003	O/L English Revision	English	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11004	O/L Art	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11005	O/L Sinhala	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11006	O/L History	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11007	O/L Tamil	Tamil	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11008	O/L Business & Accounting Studies Revision	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11009	O/L History Revision	Sinhala	LKR 03.00	LKR 100.00
11010	O/L IT Fitness Test	English	One-time LKR 50.00

-Sameera.

Nenasa TV Launches Two New Educational Channels

Nenasa TV, the satellite based television channel developed to bridge the education gap between urban and rural Sri Lanka took a bold new leap today with the launch of two channels covering Grade 10 and Grade 11 curriculum respectively in the presence of Hon. President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Tangalle Ruhunu Wijayaba National School. Based upon the content developed by the National Institute of Education (NIE) under the direction of the  Ministry of Education (MoE) which has so far connected over 2000 schools, “Nenasa” will provide these new channels initially to 1000 “Mahindodaya” schools.

The Nenasa programme was developed under the Mahinda Chinthanaya education plan to address the disparity of access to knowledge between urban and rural Sri Lanka through ICT (Information Communication Technology). Dialog Television, a satellite-based broadcaster, is a subsidiary of Dialog Axiata.  A satellite based system has almost no geographical limitations to deliver crystal clear content from the heavens, making it an ideal medium to deliver distance learning across the island.

Launched in 2009, the programme has so far gone on to connect over 2000 schools and future plans will encompass many more schools.

The state of the art satellite based distance education programme is operated by the Ministry of Education, while a high quality telecast edition of the national education curriculum for Ordinary Level students is developed by the National Institute of Education (NIE). The content is currently developed in Sinhala medium. The developed curriculum is transmitted to the rural school network via Dialog Television.

Hong Kong ICT4D PhD Fellowship Scheme

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)

Graduate students and practitioner with evidence of academic excellence, research ability, good communication skills, and interest in pursuing their dissertation in the field of social entrepreneurship and ICT for development are invited to apply for Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.

The Fellowship provides monthly stipend of HK$20,000 and travel allowance of HK$10,000 per year. In addition, each awardee will also enjoy tuition fees waiver for a maximum of three years.

Hong Kong serves as an excellent hub to access China, South-East- and South-Asia, dynamic social innovations space. To understand how social entrepreneurship is helping solve social issues, PolyU has recently established three centers: Sustainability Research Management Center; Design Institute for Social Innovation; and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development.

For additional information on PhD fellowship see (http://www.polyu.edu.hk/ro/hkphd-fellowship/)

For any clarification about application process: contact Ms Martha Hui (martha.hui@polyu.edu.hk)

For information on ongoing research projects on social entrepreneurship: contact Dr. Israr Qureshi (israr.qureshi@polyu.edu.hk).

.

-Sameera.

Mobile Phones in Prisons

The ‘Census of Population and Housing 2011’, the 14^th National Census of Sri Lanka was completed in 2009/2010 and the enumeration stage of the census was carried out in February‐March 2012. As per its findings Sri Lanka had 20.2 million population at the end of 2011. Also the latest statistics released by TRC shows that Sri Lanka has 19.6m Mobile Subscribers, resulting 95.1% penetration by September 2012 (probably with the assumption that population has increased by 0.4m during 2012). Anyway it shows how widely mobile phones have spread within the society. A recent article by CNN covered how mobile phones are being taken in to the prisons and used by prisoners.

A mobile phone and a hands free kit are seen in an X-ray of a Sri Lankan prisoner (Photo courtesy of CNN)

58-year-old G. Siripala, a Sri Lankan prisoner serving a 10-year sentence for theft, was escorted by armed prison officials to Colombo's National Hospital with severe back pain, doctors rushed him for an X-ray. Doctors thought he might have orthopaedic complications, a source familiar with the matter. "But the X-ray showed a cell phone and two hands-free kits." Medical staff prepared to carry out a surgical procedure on the prisoner, the source said.

"However, the man said 'Sir, sir, please give me a moment.' He coughed, wriggled, shrugged his muscles and the items fell on the ground," the source said.

The awkward incident reveals how Sri Lanka's prison officials discovered the latest round of phone smuggling into the high security Welikade Prison, in the northern sector of the capital, Colombo. The prisoner explained his situation to the doctors, recounting how had been chatting on the cell phone with a relative when prison officials carried out a surprise check on his ward, the source said.

"He had no place to hide it. So he thrust it in his rectum together with the two hands-free kits," he said of the prisoner. At nighttime, to avoid detection, the prisoners cover themselves with a bed sheet, hide the phone near the body and use the hands free kit, the source added. Siripala's undoing came when the person he had been speaking to rang back. The ringing tone came from his back and prison officials grabbed him, the source said. Smuggling of cell phones into prison is an all-too-common occurrence, forcing prison officers to use hand-held detectors, Commissioner General of Prisons P.W. Kodippili told.

"Most prisoners, particularly when they are taken to courts for cases, return with mobile phones given by outside parties. We have minimized the problem and are on the alert and catch them when they come in," said Kodippili, who is in charge of all of Sri Lanka's prisons.

Kodippili said jammers have been installed in prisons. However, one mobile phone operator had a tower near Welikade Prison and this was causing a technical glitch. Sources had revealed that some prisoner carryout finical transactions using mobile phones. Anyway all those would not be possible once authorities introduce body and parcel scanners very soon.

-Sameera

(based on a news article released by CNN)

Dialog 5 Star Partner - Mobile for Development (m4D)

5 Star Partner Hoarding in Ampara Town (Eastern Sri Lanka)

Dialog Axiata’s “5 Star Partner” programme extends the company’s reach to customers in rural areas by way of “Infomediaries” – Information Intermediaries. This exclusive corps of highly trained and carefully selected independent rural entrepreneurs enables Dialog to improve customers’ lives by reducing costs and delays in accessing services, as well as by opening up access to life-enhancing mobile services many currently do not fully utilize.

Dialog Infomediary Initiative (DII) – under the theme of Inclusive Business (IB), Dialog Axiata PLC has developed a robust business case to empower communities at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) and is desirous of establishing a Social Enterprise Retail Network through an initiative known as “Dialog 5 Star Partner” to bridge the last-mile in its downstream value chain. The envisaged 5 Star Network is to build an innovative and non-traditional ‘Infomediary Network’ that relies on social entrepreneurs (information intermediaries) to reach consumers at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP).

5 Star Partners receive significant investment and support from Dialog to position them as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or to be specific, Mobile for Development (m4D) ambassadors in their villages. Dialog is working towards placing 1000 "5 Star Partners" across rural Sri Lanka within 2012 with the support of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and GSM Association (GSMA). A third of all 5 Star Partners are located in the North and East of the country which were worst-affected by civil conflict, and where Dialog was the first MNO to re-establish coverage.

Dialog acknowledges that communities that are segmented at varying levels of e-readiness require creative business models to reach each segment effectively. Low income communities that are geographically isolated display lowest levels of e-readiness and are at the receiving end of the Digital Divide continuum. To date Dialog has made significant progress in fulfilling the various components of the "5 Star" ecosystem and is currently poised to roll out a trial "5 Star Partner Initiative" encompassing 1000 tier three retailers equally distributed across Sri Lanka. Dialog has invested resources in building complementary services such as Rural Value Added Services (VAS) and charging mechanisms to serve the needs of the poor through the 5 Star Partner network.

Dialog 5 Star Partner Network in Sri Lanka

-Sameera.

South Asian Mobile Conference 2012

What Can you do with your mobile?

Listen to;
Dr. Hans Wijesuriya - Group Chief Executive Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka
Mr. Tomi T Ahonen - Former Nokia Executive, well known author
Mr. Ralph Simon - CEO of Mobilium International

And many other speakers

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