VAVUNIYA – Responding to education challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, on Tuesday (23) inaugurated ‘Smart Classrooms’, a US-funded online education platform that connects students and teachers from different regions, and provide remote schools with access to teachers trained in science and technology.
“This Smart Classroom directly supports children’s access to a quality education using new technology,” Teplitz said the inauguration ceremony, adding, “This opens a new world for them and also improve the connection between Sinhala and Tamil students, building stronger links with each other and their communities.”
Two schools, in Vavuniya and Trincomalees were handpicked to pilot the US$ 20,000 Smart Classroom program, through an initiative supported by the US government’s Agency for International Development (USAID) that worked closely with provincial and district authorities to the schools.
The state-of-the-art classrooms include digital displays, audio equipment, desks, and chairs provided from the American people through USAID. The program helps less advantaged schools deal with the challenges of meeting educational goals during a pandemic and also connects students and teachers from different regions so they can support lasting peace in their communities.
The Smart Classroom activity is one component of the longstanding partnership between the American and Sri Lankan people to support self-reliance, strengthen stability, and promote economic growth. USAID’s program in Sri Lanka, totaling more than Rs 350 billion s since 1956, promotes a healthy, educated, and employed population.
-ENCL