Schools Nihiluwa M.V empowers rural students with IT
Nihiluwa M.V. is the first school in the Hambantota district to launch a school website, student blogs and YouTube videos. It is a wonderfully small e-village school which has obtained many facilities due to the diligence of its students.
They started the e-village concept in 2006.This programme was directly coordinated by the Secondary Education Modernization Project (SEMP). They initiated this IT facility to encourage students who are very keen in IT and but are not economically stable. After launching their websites, they got the world’s attention and received hundreds of e-mails from several countries in appreciation of their attempt to empower rural students with IT.
Through Internet Banking they send account numbers to interested donors and the donors then send money to buy computers for these poor students. So far they have received 15 computers. Ms. Vindya Manamperi is one of the lucky students, getting sponsorship from Germany to continue her Bsc. ( Hons) Degree at SLIIT, Malabe for four years, with the complete cost of her studies, boarding fee, mobile charges and a laptop with an internet dongle being provided. At present she is in her third year.
Deutsch Bank donated 10 brand new computers and network accessories for a 30 computer local area network. 2011 was a significant milestone for the computer unit when the leading International Bank in Sri Lanka, Deutsch Bank, arrived with computer equipment worth nearly 600,000 LKR. This donation helped them turn the newly-built computer unit into one of the best computer units in the Tangalle Educational Zone.
This school was inaugurated in 1891 at a temporary hut. The first Principal was Mr. Wijesiriwardana. In 1894 they got a permanent building and functioned as a private boys’ school. In 1925 it was taken over by the Government. After 27 years, in 1952 the school was converted into a mixed school.
The most historical year for the school was 1965, when they earned Maha Vidyalaya status with the G. C. E Advance Level classes. More than a century after the inaugural the school is now in a very strong position with so many facilities such as a Wi-Fi system, an e-village unit, a multimedia unit, a modern computer unit, a science laboratory, a library and an aesthetic unit. At present the lead rein of the school is given to Mr. P. R. Pathirana.
This computer unit was established under SEMP, funded by the Asian Development Bank in 2004.This unit was a great gift for the school. It is believed that the ICT sector will invade all the vital areas of the Economy. Due to this, the government wants to promote ICT from the grassroots level. Then the Ministry of Education donated computer labs to select- ed schools. Nihiluwa M. V. received this unit at the second phase. They started teaching ICT to Grade 10 and 11 from 2004. And in 2007, for the first time, students sat for ICT at their G.C.E O’ Level exam. A noteworthy feature of the examination was that all 15 students of the school got through ICT successfully. Furthermore, in 2011 they got a 100% pass rate for six subjects including ICT. All these successes were due to the IT facility which helped them in their teaching-learning processes.
In 2008, SEMP decided to select the Best Computer Centers at the Zonal and Provincial level under the guidance of the Southern Province Chief Minister. Nihiluwa M.V. surprisingly bagged the first place in the Tanga l l e Educational Zone and also emerged first at the provincial level under the category of best e-village center in 2008. While teaching IT for school students they expanded their services to the whole village.
It is not only in IT that the students of Nihiluwa M.V. shine but in extracurricular activities as well. They excel in sports, dance, music and language day competitions and bring district, provincial and island victories to the school.
This year this extraordinary school got an opportunity to be picked for the 1000 schools project, which will bring huge development in the near future. We as ET readers wish them all success.
Sujitha Miranda