Nenasa TV Connects 2000 Schools

 

Two New Educational Channels Launched Under the Auspices of His Excellency Hon. President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Nenasa TV, the digital satellite television based Distance Learning Network architected by the Ministry of Education, National Institute of Education and Dialog Axiata, to bridge education enablement gaps between urban and rural Sri Lanka achieved a significant milestone in connecting their 2000th school under the program. The event that weas held to mark the occasion also signified a bold new leap for ‘Nenasa’ with the launch of two channels covering the National Curricula of Grade 10 and Grade 11 respectively in the presence of His Excellency the Hon. President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Tangalle Ruhunu Wijayaba National School.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Minister of Education Hon. Bandula Gunawardena said, “The true inheritors of the massive development drive that is currently underway in the country are the children of Sri Lanka. It is the vision of His Excellency Hon. President Mahinda Rajapaksa to build a knowledge-centric education system. I believe that this second ‘Nenasa’ channel launched this day at the Ruhunu Wijayaba National School will aid us in realising that vision. As the Minister of Education, I would like to thank Dialog for coming forward to provide their unstinting support to this endeavour.”

Nenasa TV the state-of-the-art satellite based distance education program was developed under the Mahinda Chinthanaya education plan to equalise access to quality education between urban and rural Sri Lanka through information communication technology. Nenasa is a Gift to the Ministry of Education and the Children of Sri Lanka funded by the Dialog foundation. Nenasa TV is currently beamed to 2000 schools across the country including 1000 “Mahindodaya” schools.

The Ranjan Wijerathne Maha Vidyalaya in Pelwatta, Moneragala District was the first school in Sri Lanka to receive Nenasa TV which was launched in 2009 by His Excellency the President. Under this new phase, Nenasa TV will broadcast a high quality edition of the national education curriculum for Ordinary Level (grades 10 and 11) under the direction of the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Commenting upon the achievement and the launch of the two new Channels, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, the Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “Dialog is honoured and privileged to partner with the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education to facilitate the delivery of high quality educational content to 2000 schools across all provinces of Sri Lanka. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry and the NIE for their tireless efforts over the past years in architecting and expanding the content and coverage of Nenasa. Today, with the launch of the 2nd Channel and the introduction of a specific on focus on Year 10 and Year 11 curriculum, I am confident that Nenasa will deliver a substantial learning dividend to Children from across our country. We will continue to support the expansion of Nenasa in line with our belief that the strategic application of digital technologies can rapidly equalise asymmetries in the access to education, and empower the youth of our country with parity access to learning and career advancement”.