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Sunday, 14 March 2010

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Computer based education to be introduced islandwide

Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said last week that the introduction of computer based education, currently practised in many developed countries will be introduced shortly into the education system in Sri Lanka for the benefit of 4.3 million school children.

Minister Premajayantha told the Junior Observer the introduction of the digital system education, will come into force in the middle of this year, and children in remote and rural schools too will be able to follow globally valued educational programmes. "He also pointed that the gap between school children in the North and South in our country could also be bridged with the introduction of computer based education".

Referring to the education system in Australia where a large number of Sri Lankan students are currently pursuing higher studies, the Minister said the entire education system in Australia is conducted under the digital system, and students, even in distant provinces, could keep close links with their educational activities.

He said to make this computer based system of education a success, the Education Department has taken steps to equip all schools with modern Information Technology Centres.

"As the initial step of this programme, we have planned to distribute computers to nearly 1000 remote and rural schools before the end of this year," he added.

He said all urban schools in the country including Colombo, Galle, Ratnapura, Matara, Kandy and Jaffna are currently having IT centres and computer facilities.

The Minister thanked private sector institutions for extending a helping hand to provide IT centres in schools.


Tomorrow is Ides of March

There are warnings of danger associated with the Ides of March which falls on March 15, mainly because Julius Caesar was assassinated in 709 AUC or 44 B.C. The Ides of March. which is Idus Martias in Latin is the name of March 15 in the Roman calendar.

The term Ides was used for the 15th day of March, May, July, and October. It was a festive day, which was dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held.

In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, Caesar is warned to "beware the Ides of March."It should be noted, however, at the time of Julius Caesar's assassination, the Ides of March referred to March 13.The term ids (ides) originally referred to the day of the full moon.

The Romans considered this an auspicious day in their calendar. The word ides comes from Latin, meaning "half division" (of a month) but is probably of non-Indo-European origin.


Sri Lankan students to compete in Intel ISEF in USA

Three selected students from the Sri Lankan school-going fraternity will compete at the prestigious 2010 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), to be held in San Jose California, in the United States, in May this year. The Intel ISEF Fair is presumed to be the world's largest pre-college science fair and competition, where the participating students are extended an opportunity to explore, discover and innovate at a global level.


The contestants with the officials

It encourages, promotes and provides a platform for students to engage in challenging scientific questioning, using authentic research practices and create solutions to the problems of the future.

Over 1,500 young scientists from over 50 countries are expected to compete for more than USD four million in scholarships and prizes at the competition, in which over 1000 science, engineering and industry professionals voluntarily take part to judge the projects.

At the inaugural ceremony of the Sri Lanka Science and Engineering Fair 2010, held at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, (IESL) recently, eleven participants selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and ten winners of the Junior Inventor of the Year 2009 competition of the IESL, displayed their projects and entered the fray to vie for the Grand Fair in San Jose, USA.

The ceremony was organised jointly by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), National Science Foundation (NSF) and INTEL Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Addressing the ceremony, the Director NSF Sarath Abayawardana said that in a world developing rapidly on the basis of a knowledge-based economy, a competition of this nature will undoubtedly enhance and encourage scientific discovery and innovation in the psyches of our school-going community. It would certainly form an integral part of their broader programme and objective of taking scientific know-how and thinking to the masses.

Chairman of the Advisory Board to the Science Popularisation Division of the NSF and UGC Vice Chancellor Prof. M.T.M. Jiffry opined that this laudable joint venture will contribute immensely in the nation's quest to identify the appropriate human resources, enhance and fine-tune the students talents and abilities at a national and international level. Country Manager Intel Sri Lanka, Indika De Zoyza briefly outlining the processes of the competition said that three winners selected from the 21 participants at the SLSEF Fair -2010, would represent Sri Lanka, at the world's largest pre-college science fair competition, in San Jose, USA.

"This competition would symbolise the mini Nobel-Prize's competition for school-children' he said.

The President of the IESL Eng. (Dr.) Dharmasiri De Alwis pointing out that scientific knowledge was like a double-edged sword which could be utilised for both the detriment and the prosperity of mankind, said that a competition of this nature would certainly steer our children towards the latter.The Chairman of the JIY competition of the IESL, Eng. J. Meegoda requested the school-going fraternity to reap the optimum benefits from this magnanimous project which has been organised jointly by the relevant institutions, despite their slightly divergent objectives.

He appealed to the students to refrain from conceiving any type of doubt or ill-feeling, pertaining to the adjudication processes, which are well managed by fully competent, eminent and just professionals of the land.

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