Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, flagged-off a major computer Literacy drive in Sri Lanka by pledging support to the World Computer Literacy Day 2003 movement being spearheaded by Indian IT Training pioneer, NIIT.

The Prime Minister also unveiled specially designed course books for the 'Swift-First Step' program to initiate thousands of citizens into the world of computers. To support the Government's e-Sri Lanka initiative, NIIT has pledged to train 500 people in the country free of cost.

Minister of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology, Milinda Moragoda also pledged support to the computer literacy mission at the launch ceremony held in the Parliament premises. Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Mohan Kumar also pledged support to this innovative movement of bringing people and computers together by spreading computer literacy among all sections of the society.

"The technology revolution sweeping the world is transforming the life of a typical citizen. We commit ourselves to integrating deserving students in Sri Lanka - with no access to computer learning-into this emerging and bright future", said Mr. P. Rajendran, Director and Chief Operating Officer of NIIT.

"NIIT's WCLD campaign is a major step forward in the war against computer illiteracy and pledge to creating a computer-literate Sri Lanka and seek support of all sections of society", Mr. Rajendran added.

During the next two months, NIIT will help about 5,000 of citizens of Sri Lanka take their first step into the world of computers. Even for those who have experienced the IT world before, NIIT's unique program has something to offer.

The World Computer Literacy Day (WCLD) initiative will ascend to a new height, scale and dimension, this year, as NIIT plans to train a total of 200,000 people on computers through its over 3,800 Education Centres world wide.

Mr. Arun Shourie, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Disinvestment, Government of India, flagged off NIIT's Computer Literacy Mission in India last week. NIIT is now taking the torch of computer literacy into other parts of the world.

The World Computer Literacy Day, an NIIT initiative to bridge the Digital Divide, now in its third year is catching the imagination of several countries beyond India. NIIT's overseas education centres, including those located in Botswana, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe are gearing up to help thousands of people bridge the Digital Divide.

NIIT established its first computer education centre in Sri Lanka in 1997. Based on overwhelming response from students, NIIT moved closer to customers by establishing state-of-the-art education centres in Colombo (Union Place, Bambalapitiya, Nugegoda), Gampaha, Jaffna, Kandy, Kurunegala and Trincomalee.

NIIT programs offered in Sri Lanka range from short 2-week IT literacy programs to titles like the 2-year Honours Diploma in Network Engineering and DNIIT. NIIT also offers IT upgrade skill programs for IT Professionals.

NIIT Sri Lanka has trained nearly 10,000 individual students in addition to training employees in organisations including Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka), Dialog GSM, HEMAS Group, MAS Group, People's Bank, Sri Lanka Police, Sri Lanka Telecom, Suntel Limited and Hatton National Bank. NIIT, a leading global IT solutions corporation operates in 44 countries, providing learning, software and knowledge solutions to customers in Asia Pacific, Europe, India, Japan and the USA. In the photograph are Mr. Mohan Kumar Deputy High Commissioner of India, Minister Milinda Moragoda, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mr. P. Rajendran, Director of NIIT.