On 14 January, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Harini Amarasuriyajointly attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the China-aid Digital Transformation Project of General Education in Sri Lanka. Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Madhura Senevirathna, Deputy Minister Vocational Education Nalin Hewage,Deputy Minister of Digital EconomyEranga Weeraratne, Counsellor Tang Yandi of the Chinese Embassy were also present at the event.
Prime Minister Amarasuriya stated that the project marks an important milestone in Sri Lanka’s pursuit of education equity and digital transformation. She expressed heartfelt gratitude to the government and people of China for their continued support. She noted that cooperation between the two sides in digital infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, and human resource development aligns closely with Sri Lanka’s broader digital economy agenda, injecting strong momentum into the country’s efforts to build a more resilient, inclusive, and knowledge-based economy. From the donation of school uniform materials to the launch of the digital transformation project for general education, bilateral cooperation has continued to deepen. Through the construction of modern facilities such as an education cloud data center, smart classrooms,multimedia conference center, and distance learning platforms, the project will promote the intelligent transformation of Sri Lanka’s education ecosystem and lay a solid foundation for building an inclusive and interconnected education system and comprehensively improving education quality. The Sri Lankan side looks forward to continuing close cooperation with China to further advance education digitalization.
Deputy Minister Weeraratne expressed appreciation to the Chinese government for its generous assistance, noting that the project will continuously enhance the digital literacy and skills of Sri Lankan students and teachers, ensure that Sri Lanka’s education system keeps pace with global technological developments, and strengthen the country’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.
H.E. Ambassador Qi Zhenhong congratulated Sri Lanka on the commencement of the digital transformation project of general education, noting that digitalization is an important measure in Sri Lanka’s education reform and a key component of its national development strategy, and that China is pleased to contribute to this endeavor. Under the project, the Chinese government will assist in the construction of 900 smart classrooms in 500 schools across Sri Lanka. In recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in advancing Digital China, with significant progress in digital infrastructure development. In particular, China has established the world’s largest and most resource-rich National Smart Education Platform, and its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) rank first globally in both number and scale of application. China stands ready to share its high-quality educational resources and experience with Sri Lanka to achieve common development.
Witnessed by Ambassador Qi Zhenhong and Prime Minister Amarasuriya , Counsellor Tang Yandi of the Chinese Embassy and Secretary of the Ministry of Education Kaluwewesigned theSupplementary Implementation Agreement on China-Aid Digital Transformation Project of General Educationin Sri Lanka.
The event was held in a warm and enthusiastic atmosphere and received extensive coverage from English-, Sinhala-, and Chinese-language media outlets, including the Daily Mirror, the Morning, Sri Lanka Mirror, Xinhua News Agency, Legal Daily, and Phoenix TV.