CDB pushes it literacy upwards with gift of “smart classroom”

11th donation presented under the CDB Pariganaka Piyasa flagship CSR programme

420 students and entire Devipahala Kuruwita community to benefit

A total of LKR 13.5 Mn investment since 2007 benefitting nearly 12,500 students

Empowering Sri Lanka’s young people with the apt skills and competencies to become powerful global citizens, Citizen’s Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) has ensured access to state-of-the-art IT with the presentation of fully fledged IT laboratories to disadvantaged schools across the island. Under its flagship CSR programme “CDB Pariganaka Piyasa”, which was launched eleven years ago in 2007, CDB presented a “smart classroom” as the 11th donation to Ra/Sri Saranajothi Tissa Vidyalaya located in the little town of Devipahala, Kuruwita in the Sabaragamuwa Province at an investment of LKR 1.5 Mn.

Taking a step further from the ten IT laboratories gifted to disadvantaged schools in difficult areas across the country which now totals an investment of LKR 13.5 Mn and continues to benefit a total of nearly 12,500 students, this state-of-the-art smart classroom has smart board, computers, printers, stationery, scanners, computer tables, chairs and other vital infrastructure including Internet facility. Another stimulating dynamic of these IT laboratories is that not only does it make technology literacy accessible to students, it also enables communities in proximity to these schools to also avail themselves of the benefits of technology. The laboratories therefore have become IT knowledge hubs, making them overarching community centres for knowledge gathering for the entire community.

For Deputy CEO/CFO Damith Tennakoon, this IT laboratory pushes CDB’s objective of inclusiveness across the nation to the next level. “Our vision of becoming a financial powerhouse is inextricably linked with fostering entrepreneurial innovation and workmanship and this can only be done if our young people are developed and nurtured to take advantage of the opportunities around them. IT is a great enabler and by making technology accessible to young people across the country, CDB is empowering them to optimise on opportunities in the world around them, imperatives in CDB’s ultimate objective of building a strong and thriving nation.”

The IT laboratory was opened in the midst of a host of dignitaries including Provincial Education Director Sabaragamuwa Sepala Kuruppuarachchi, Principal of Saranajothi Tissa Vidyalaya Ashoka Udayanga, the senior management of CDB, parents and students, gathering for this milestone event that would give their school and village a competitive advantage when it comes to pursuing future dreams and goals. Showing immense happiness at the gift his school has received which will undeniably empower his students and the surrounding community, Principal Ashoka Udayanga endorsed the advantages the entire community would garner, adding, “By making ICT skills and knowledge accessible, this IT lab is providing our entire community with multi-dimensional learning opportunities. As we all know, it is technology that drives the world today and with CDB giving us this global driver, we are now ready to exploit the opportunities that arise not just within Sri Lanka, but regionally and internationally as well.”

“CDB Pariganaka Piyasa” is an ongoing sustainability project fully integrated into the Company’s core CSR ethos and aligned with the country’s goal of aggressively pushing IT literacy to augment the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Quality Education being accessible to all. Adding that equal opportunities arise sharply with access to technology which in turn impacts achieving the other sixteen SDGs as well, Tennakoon concludes that CDB’s unique brand of sustainable empowerment and knowledge permeation opens manifold opportunities to every citizen in the country. “CDB Pariganaka Piyasa is not just about enhancing IT literacy among rural youth, but about broadening mindset, presenting survival tools and opening up career opportunities that will push our young people up the career ladder.”

Deputy CEO/CFO of CDB Damith Tennakoon unveils the plaque to ceremonially open the 11th IT Laboratory and Smart Classroom at Ra/Sri Saranajothi Tissa Vidyalaya in Devipahala, Kuruwita

Senior Assistant General Manager Marketing of CDB Darshana Jayasinghe shows a student of Ra/Sri Saranajothi Tissa Vidyalaya in Devipahala Kuruwita to operate a computer in the new IT laboratory and Smart Classroom gifted by CDB