Collaboration with Education Ministry

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education to deploy 10 Education Channels which are provided absolutely free over Dialog Television and in ViU App, a Dialog news release said.

“In the first phase, four channels were launched on September 7, and will be increased to a total of ten in the coming months. These channels are accessible over Dialog Digital Satellite TV and on any smartphone by downloading the ViU Mobile TV app and it is made available absolutely free without any PayTV subscription charges or data charges, the release said.

It explained that the content for these channels are developed by the State Ministry of Education Reforms, Open Universities and Distance Learning Promotion and the National Institute of Education as per the national curriculum.

“The new set of channels namely, Nenasa O/L Sinhala (Ch. 22), Nenasa O/L Tamil (Ch. 23), Nenasa A/L Sinhala (Ch. 24) and Nenasa A/L Tamil (Ch. 25) can be accessed by all Dialog Television customers as well as ViU Mobile TV App users without any data charges on the Dialog network,” the release said.

“These four channels are dedicated to support all students to prepare for the upcoming G.C.E. O/L and A/L examinations and cover lessons conducted by the country’s best educators with immersive, engaging and innovative teaching techniques. Furthermore, the ViU Mobile TV App available on Andriod, IOS, and Huawei app gallery, provides the facility to rewind the TV channel for up to two hours and catch up past three days missed programmes to relearn important topics.”

Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said, “Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the education sector was adversely affected, prompting us to find quick solutions to ensure the learning continuity of our children. This initiative by the Ministry of Education to ensure that every child has access to education through accessible, new technology will become a new revolution in the education sector.”

“I see this initiative as the biggest transformation in Sri Lanka’s education sector. I am very pleased that children from all across Sri Lanka will be significantly benefitting from this programme. The National Institute of Education and Dialog made a great deal of effort to compile the educational content. I am confident that this initiative will greatly service both the children and the country’s education sector”, said Former Minister of Education and current Foreign Minister, (Prof.) G. L. Peiris.

Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We are pleased to launch these education channels for free to all schoolchildren across the country as part of our efforts to enable uninterrupted education during these challenging times. Extending A/L and O/L content via the Nenasa Sinhala and Tamil channels is part of Dialog’s overarching efforts in providing schoolchildren across the country with equitable access to education to achieve their aspirations.”