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.

Sri Lanka Bans Mobile Phones At Schools

There are around 11 million mobile subscribers in Sri Lanka and the mobile penetration seems to be very high. It is not a surprise if this number reaches 20 million in another few years time.

In this context mobile phone would be one of the best information delivery mechanism when compared with other electronic media. So it has immense potential of delivering contents on agriculture, health, education, etc.

But this tool has been banned at Schools, why?

This sophisticated tool can be a tool of distraction in the schools. That is why it is already banned in other countries such as South Korea, UK, Philippines and France. This is very similar to what happened in Ethiopia, their Ministry of Education kicked of the OLPC from schools.

Any technology can be used for good or bad purposes/ constructive or destructive purposes. It depend on who use it and what purpose it being used. Best example is the computer, can be used to kill people as well as it can be used to save thousands of lives.

So what should we do? Say “NO” to the technology or teach the younger generation how to use it effectively.

-Sameera.

Nenasa TV – 1000 Schools to be Connected to Sri Lanka’s first Satellite Television Education Bridge

H.E. the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, launched ’Nenasa’ - a Digital Satellite Television based Distance Education Bridge, managed and operated by the MoE and the National Institute of Education (NIE). ’Nenasa’ will connect 1,000 rural schools in Sri Lanka to high-quality rendition of the national curriculum, developed by the NIE over a digital satellite television broadcast medium.

This is another joint initiative of Dialog Telekom under the theme of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). This would deliver rural children the quality education and would minimize the Digital Divide in Sri Lanka.

NenasaTV is a gift to the Ministry of Education and Sri Lanka’s student population from Dialog Telekom PLC. The project has been funded by Dialog Telekom as a part of its Corporate Responsibility programme under the theme of ICT4D.

Addressing the gathering, H. E. the President, said: “Our Government is making every effort to harness the potential of rural Sri Lanka, with special emphasis on enhancing educational facilities in remote regions including the newly-liberated areas in the North and East".

The NIE will develop contents for ‘Nenasa’, which in turn will be broadcast by Dialog to all 1,000 schools. ‘Nenasa’ will be dedicated towards broadcasting educational content and cater to the Ordinary Level and Advanced Level syllabus in Sinhala and Tamil. In addition, teacher-training and skills development would also be included in the programme line-up. These lessons will be supplemented by a Learning Management System (LMS) http://www.nenasa.lk/.

-Sameera.