India’s MBD gifts e-learning classes for two Sri Lankan schools
India’s MBD, one of the country’s largest education companies, will gift two Sri Lankan schools with two integrated digital learning solutions.
The two schools are Nakkawatta Central college in Kuliyapitiya and Gannethena Maha Vidyalaya in Hingula Mawanella. This is part of the Group’s objective is to encourage Sri Lankan students to venture into e-learning, a new initiative by the Sri Lankan education authorities.
Valued at SL Rs 1.2 million, the first two e-learning classrooms were formally presented to Education Minister Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam by Monica Malhotra Kandhari, Managing Director of MBD Group, at the Ministry of Education recently.
MBD Group, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, is one of India’s largest education companies with more than six decades of experience in the domain. Under the category of e-learning, MBD is offering a customised learning management system that consists of classroom-based training modules, interactive e-content, teacher support kit and other support services along with training teachers to get accustomed to newer methodologies of teaching and creating their own e-content.
“The system provides an environment for students to put their textual knowledge and practical skills to test and enhance their learning levels. Besides, various modern teaching methodologies have been incorporated to make learning a fun and effortless process. This aims to standardise teaching resources along with encouraging teachers to create their own e-content and assessments and make learning more receptive”, said Monica Malhotra Kandhari, Managing Director of MBD.
The m-learning solution from MBD is an extension of the traditional approach. For instance, the freely available Nytra app -- an indigenously developed augmented reality app -- makes images and illustrations come alive in books with the help of animations and voiceovers. This app also supports all formats of digital content, videos and animations and works on Android, IOS and Windowsbased mobile devices.
Several educational apps, such as ABCD Kids and Joy of Rhymes, developed by MBD are also available free of cost (at Google Play Store, itunes Store, Windows Store) for end users. MBD recently launched Virtual Reality for K-12 education which was also appreciated by the learning and teaching community across India.
Along with this, all books published by MBD are available online in the form of interactive e-books; learners can access these from MBD e-bookstore by paying a nominal fee.
MBD Group has received accreditation from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education for more than 30 titles and projects, including Moderns ABC books for grades 11 and 12; books of Physics, Chemistry and Biology for Grades 6, 7 and 8; Learnwell computer books for grades 1 to 8; Learnwell Science for grades 6 to 8; and Web Designing books. A warehouse has been set up to ease the supply and delivery system in Sri Lanka.
Last year, MBD donated science books worth Rs 1 million to the Colombo Municipal Council on the latter’s celebration of 150 years of service; four of MBDS authors sponsored a science symposium in Colombo. Again this year, the Group will be distributing a hundred thousand exercise books.
MBD books will be available at local bookshops and libraries across Sri Lanka, through its key distributors. Currently the Group is engaged in creating books in the local language (Sinhalese) for Grades K to 12. Furthermore, there are plans to boost e-learning projects; more books are in the process of accreditation, too.
Just In Time Group’s goal is to create reading corners in orphanages and rural schools for children who are lacking this much needed knowledge development resource.
Reading even for just a few minutes a day has a myriad of benefits and helps shape a child’s personality. Encouraging reading in children is one of the most important things we can do to prepare our future generation to face life as a balanced human being and the foundation towards better academic and non-academic growth.
By building mini libraries all across the country for rural schools or orphanages can greatly enhance the habit of reading in children and awareness of the world around them.
This was Just In Time Group’s 03rd CSR Project that was completed under their CSR initiative - ‘Today a reader-tomorrow a Leader’. The selected project location was Vajira Sri Children’s Development Center in Pita Kotte, established in 1983 with 30 destitute children who were the victims and lost their parents due the civil war in Northern Sri Lanka.
Just In Time Group chose this home due to the fact that they greatly lacked books for the children and an engaging and attractive space for the children to read. Just In Time Group and its staff contributed in creating this mini library – a reading space for these children which was received with much excitement by the children and the staff.
The age group selected for this Reading Corner project was for the 4-10 year age group of girls and boys, as they did not have a library or activity area apart from their classroom spaces to call their own. Just In Time Group contributed their time and resources in painting the space and decorating it to make it attractive for the children and donating the home with a fully equipped library and activity corner complete with arts and crafts and most importantly books to let their imagination and knowledge soar. The staff ended the day with a hand painting activity with the children which they truly enjoyed.
Vajira Sri Children’s Development Center is in the care of Rev. Dr. Hunupalagama Vajira Sri Nayaka Thero whose commitment from day one has been for the development and betterment of these kids. Each child has a story of their own, and a smile that makes you appreciate the blessings we have.