The first batch of Advanced Level students in Government schools are prepared to sit for the Information Technology paper next year as part of the government’s efforts to enhance IT knowledge among youth in all parts of the country.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardene said yesterday (5) that the Government has provided ICT facilities to 5,000 out of 10,000 schools in the country and major improvement in the ICT sector can be expected within the next few years.

He said the students and teachers in rural schools have shown a high standard of creativity and talent in IT related competitions and that the development in the IT field will help alleviate poverty.

The Minister was speaking at the awards presentation to students who showed outstanding performances at the national level school ICT Championship 2010. Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr Choi Ki Chul was the Guest of Honour. The competition was held in Government and international schools under four categories.

The Minister added that the Korean language will be included to the school curriculum in addition to Chinese and Russian languages in the future.

He said the Korean Government has assisted in many ways to uplift education in Sri Lanka. The Minister said that Sri Lanka will receive a Korean donation worth over Rs. 900 million to uplift education by October 22.