Sri Lanka embraces AI Integration in Education System

• A memorandum of understanding was signed with Microsoft Corp. to introduce AI to students in 20 districts.
• AI can help address teacher shortages in STEM and engineering technology subjects.
• The integration is still in its early stages, with infrastructure needed to support high-level technology.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education announced that Sri Lanka is actively integrating artificial intelligence into the school curriculum and the educational framework. On Tuesday, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Corp. to initiate a new program introducing AI to students in 20 Sri Lankan districts.

“Sri Lanka very recently focused on this AI and technologies to incorporate in the current existing curriculum and the upcoming reforms,” K. P. Munagama, additional secretary for IT and digital education at the ministry, told Arab News.

“Microsoft and the minister of education together are going to implement AI integration into the school curriculum that is coming to 20 schools and 100 teachers in the pilot round. We are going to introduce it into grade eight.”

According to a statement issued by the President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka, the program with Microsoft aims for full implementation by 2025. A dedicated team from the company will facilitate online educational activities. Additionally, the education ministry has been collaborating with private companies to identify feasible ways of introducing AI technology into the education system. Recently, a program was launched at the Skills College of Technology in Colombo.

Munagama stated that the incorporation of AI can benefit the Sri Lankan education system in various ways, including addressing the shortage of teachers in some subjects, such as STEM and engineering technology.

“We can get the assistance of AI in the future with some developing AI-assisted tools to support the learning platform technically… The teachers can utilize AI to develop pedagogical activities,” Munagama said.

He added that Sri Lanka is in the early stages of integrating AI into the education system and still needs to address the lack of infrastructure to support the high-level technology.

“But day by day, we are advancing.”

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