Knowledge in Information Technology (IT) has replaced the knowledge in literacy in the developed world and the literacy rate in a country in future will be determined by the rate of fluency in IT, Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha said yesterday.

Addressing a group of young professionals at his ministry, Minister Premajayantha went on to say that it was a matter for concern as Sri Lanka has a low IT literacy rate despite its high literacy rate of 93%, which is the highest in the region. 'The IT literacy rate has achieved a tremendous growth in the last five years, thanks to the efforts by Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA)," he stressed.

Sri Lanka targets to achieve 75% IT literacy rate in the next five years as opposed to the 5%, IT literacy rate recorded in 2005.

A survey conducted when he was the Education Minister among 250,000 school and Pirivena teachers revealed that only 17% of teachers had knowledge in IT. The rate was doubled in 6 months after a special IT course was introduced for teachers by the Ministry, Minister Premjayantha pointed out.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka