Shilpa Sayura

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Shilpa Sayura

Sri Lanka
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
Website:
http://www.shilpasayura.org
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Niranjan is educating underserved communities by closing the rural and urban education gap. His Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-based educational system is improving rural students’ access to quality education in local languages, enabling them to become more competitive in national examinations in order to gain admissions to higher education institutions. His initiative comprises an interactive means of self and group learning which makes curricula efficient and exciting. It is a vital resource to youth and their teachers in remote communities who do not otherwise have access to quality educational facilities.

About Project

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Niranjan is closing a huge disparity in the Sri Lankan educational system by having created a model for the creative use of ICT to enhance learning and improve access to quality education for rural students. Niranjan, the creator of the first Sinhala and Tamil Unicode in Sri Lanka, has combined his aptitude in developing content in local languages with the growing ICT use among Sri Lankans through Nanasala (government funded e-learning centers) to ensure that the quality of education for all Sri Lankan students comes to parity. His electronic educational materials and teaching methodology have created a multiplier effect at the local and regional levels. By significantly improving the marginalized communities’ access to high quality knowledge that has been contextualized to their local settings he has also helped children and adults meet socio-economic and environmental challenges by pioneering local language technologies, standardizing and mainstreaming local content development at a large scale while using technology to make learning fun and easy. Niranjan is also using adobe e-learning system voice technology and skype to conduct tutorials that would be otherwise too expensive for poor students. He has enhanced the learning content with visual and audio prerecorded materials that can be simply uploaded onto a SIM phone card and can be used off line. His most popular tutorials are mock exams and past question paper answering sessions which can be accessed even using mobile phones. His wide distribution of digital learning materials with lots of animation and tutorial via Skype, SIM Cards and pre recorded DVDs have already contributed to national objectives of reducing school drop-outs and have improved examination performance of rural students. Niranjan’s organization, Shilpa Sayura (“sea of knowledge”) covers multiple disciplines in primary and secondary education. He has formed collaborative partnerships with the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education using the existing school system to reach out to marginalized groups with an alternative education modality. He has reduced the digital, indigence and gender divide while promoting equal access to education through Telecentres which have been transformed into a digital education network.