Backgrounder on Public Access to Information in Sri Lanka Sourced from the TASCHA 2009 Public Access Landscape Report unless otherwise noted
Library Landscape 1011 libraries spread out across the country, 884 in rural locations o Most extensive info access venue in the country
Source: TASCHA 2009 Public Access Landscape Report.
Libraries are considered the most extensive public access venue, as they attract users of all ages and try to reach marginalized populations. Many library back office functions are now automated, but few libraries have ICT access. Libraries strive to integrate themselves into the community through activities that are traditional to the area that they serve, organizing national, cultural, and religious festivals. Number of student users continues to increase as they focus more on upward mobility.
General Information Information needs of Sri Lankan citizens can be divided into two groups: o Generic information: government services at central, sub national and local government levels, economic and political conditions, health and nutrition, education and training opportunities, and employment opportunities in the formal sector o Information specific to certain groups: Estate population: citizenship, improving health, hygiene and nutrition, adoption of safe motherhood practices and improving literacy 1
Rural population: obtaining licenses for stalls at markets, fairs etc., property and strategic information relating to education/training, specific information relating to their livelihoods Sri Lankans get their information from many formal and informal sources, but it is often fragmented and often not trustworthy. 58% of information venues (libraries and other ICT resource centers) are in four of the most developed provinces in the country; the nation faces uneven development. Charge membership fee of USD 0.50-5.00 (affordable)
Perceptions There is a high level of political will for using ICT as leverage for development and empowering people, especially the rural population but this same degree of political will does not exist for the development of other public access information venues such as libraries. The libraries present themselves differently in different localities – as a place for lifelong learning, a cultural centre, a community facility, a source of information, a social space but above all, a facility for study. Perceived as familiar, trusted, neutral locations National Library Housed under the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Documentation Services Board Lifetime membership is about 8 USD. Its mission is defined as follows: o To plan and co-ordinate library services at national level o To develop a Sri Lankan Information Resource Excellence Centre at the National Library and co ordinate and assist other major Sri Lankan collection in the country o To assist and encourage the establishment of Information Resource Excellence Centres in specific fields and inter-link them through a national information network o To facilitate access to national and international databases o To provide learning opportunities to every Sri Lankan and thereby assist the advancement of Sri Lanka o To assist Sri Lanka to become a culturally enriched and intellectually advanced nation The National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB) was established under the act No: 51 of 1998 succeeding the Sri Lanka National Library Services Board which was established in 1970 Contains 300,000 volumes. Three reading rooms and an air conditioned auditorium. Legal and Budgetary Status of Public Libraries The National Library and Documentation Services Board has a mandate for the development of libraries while two of the nine sub national level governments have set up Provincial Library Services Boards for district and provincial library development. 2
o The NLDSB is the only library institution that has been set up by an Act of Parliament. The Sri Lanka Library Association (SLLA) o incorporated by Law No.20 of 1974 of the National State Assembly and amended by act. no. 7 of 2004. o Has initiated the formulation of a Manifesto for Public Library Services in the country. There is no national law for the operation of public libraries, and only two of the nine sub national governments had passed a statute relating to library services. Administrative dichotomy adversely impacts on staffing and politicization; libraries are housed under Provincial Councils (see below). o Provincial Councils are dependent on grants and transfers from the central government for capital and current expenditure, and a major portion of which is expended on salaries. o Community development officers attached to each administrative district have supervisory functions over libraries, and rarely have any library knowledge.
Source: TASCHA 2009 Public Access Landscape Report.
Library development is not carried out on a sustainable basis particularly because there are no regular financial allocations; libraries are only a permissive function for local governments. o Funding libraries is viewed as a “welfare activity” o It is not possible to discern the amount of money allocated to libraries nationally as allocations are made by local governments. TASCHA recommends revitalizing public libraries by making the provision of public libraries mandatory and ensuring a regular financial allocation, establishing Provincial Library Services 3
Boards where they have not been established, recruiting professional librarians, filling existing vacancies, and upgrading service conditions. The development of public libraries in Sri Lanka will depend on o the interest of the political establishment o the capacity of provincial and local governments to raise revenue and to overcome administrative problems o the ability of the library committee and the librarian to exert pressure and influence the provincial and local administrations
Librarian Training and Development Most libraries have professional and skilled librarians and paraprofessionals NLDSB and the Sri Lankan Library Association constantly seek to enhance librarian professionalism. o SLLA sets minimum qualifications for becoming a librarian. NLDSB sets minimum number of librarians for each library- some exceed this number and others do not meet it. Librarians are aware of the need to provide ICT services to their clientele, though in most libraries ICT services still have not been introduced. However, due to budgetary constraints, staff shortages, recruitment of non professionals, and poor service conditions resulting in lack of motivation and lethargy among staff have become a reality. Info Access Landscape 75% of the population lives in rural areas, making ICT access difficult. 42% of the population live on less than $2 a day and 6% on less than $1 a day 27.8% of urban ICT users, 71.4% of general users and 40.1% of ICT users in non urban areas self-identify as incompetent in ICT usage Agricultural sector’s contribution to the GDP is waning, though telecommunications sector is expected to maintain economic growth in Sri Lanka Regarding ICT4D in Sri Lanka, TASCHA observed: o “While ICT4D has merits, the study showed that the majority of users did not access development information at the venues studied. Publicly funded venues attempted to put the users in a ‘straitjacket’ and discouraged the use of Internet facilities for nonlegitimate purposes but the commercial venues did not place such restrictions. Therefore the single ICT4D model public access venue should go beyond to meet the social needs of communities as well. Encouraging public access venue operators to be more entrepreneurial may result in greater use of technology.” Location, hours, and cost are cited by users as the three biggest barriers to ICT Access in Sri Lanka. Open Government Initiatives or lack thereof: 4
o The Establishments Code restricts government officers from providing information to the public without prior permission. o 2008 directive requires government agencies to “provide all information that is required for citizens to obtain a service from that institution,” but is vague about what information this might refer to. Government has focused on developing public telecenters and internet cafes but most people still patronize private establishments, as they are seen as more “cool”. However, private internet cafes don’t exist outside of Colombo. “Mobile phone growth not driven by development, but by social need.” Most people use ICTs to access information about education and for social reasons. o Health information is usually provided by clinics and hospitals, and since they are well established in Sri Lanka the population does not seek this information elsewhere.
Government ICT Policies National ICT programme established in 2004 to extend digital technology throughout the country through institutional reform, regulatory changes and the implementation of a holistic programme aimed at infrastructure development, and re-engineering government processes. o Initiative moved forward despite political Map of EasySeva centers, instability, sub optimal economic growth TASCHA 2009 Public Access Landscape Report brought about by terrorism and internal armed conflict, external shocks and a weak business environment. EasySeva (Internet Café) – Financed by USAID (through the Last Mile Initiative) and implemented by a US based firm, Synergy Strategies Group, in partnership with Sri Lankan private sector companies QUALCOMM and Dialog Telecom, and the National Development Bank (Serving Sri Lanka, SSG) o Combination of an Internet Café and a telecentre that aims to reduce barriers to entry and adopt a market driven approach to set up community information centres and develop entrepreneurs in the ICT sector o 40 centers around the country in 2008, 55 by 2009 (SSG) o 90% success rate, initiative being carried forward commercially by Dialog Telekom. Government Programs ICT Programs Nensala Centres: established as part of a holistic programme (eSri Lanka, see below) to use ICT to “leverage socioeconomic development.” 5
o Primarily located in rural and semi urban areas. o 558 Nensala Centres in Sri Lanka, 85% located in rural/lagging areas
Source: TASCHA 2009 Public Access Landscape Report.
o Primarily used for computer education purposes. o Were originally set up in temples and mosques, as they are often the center of community life in Sri Lankan villages. Later moved to public libraries. o Sri Lankan ICT Agency oversees the Centres and funds local community initiatives that complement the activities of the Nenasala Centres. ICT Agency’s Regional Impact Team deals with technical support for the Centres. o Despite advertising and outreach efforts, generally are poorly patronized. Most users are young. Sometimes venues are not easily physically accessible; physical access had not been considered when building the venues. Centre directors lacked community mobilization skills. Information needs of each community were not identified. o Financial sustainability had emerged as an issue for the centres in view of escalating utility charges, low usage, the spread of mobile telephony, competition from Internet cafes, the introduction of computer education in schools and the organization of non fee levying training programmes by other government and non government agencies. Since the spread of mobile phones, income from telephone calls at Nensala Centres has dropped by 60% in some cases. 6
o Minimum of 2 permanent employees per center. ICT venues that are publicly funded by national-level research institutes, but do not provide information to the general public: o Vidatha Resource Centres transfer low cost appropriate technology to micro and small scale entrepreneurs and assist them to develop, and market their produce through training, and link with financial institutions and markets. Databases of local resources are maintained. 218 Centres, concentrated in rural locations. o The Rural Agricultural Knowledge Centre is an ICT enabled information mechanism whose clientele are mainly subsistence farmers. Uses networks, computer communications and interactive multimedia to facilitate information sharing. 49 Centres, concentrated in rural locations. Government maintains a national and governmental news portal: http://www.news.lk/. Includes information about education, national employment, jobs net web portal, business portal, foreign and local investment, disaster management among other topics. School net Sri Lanka: o Network includes 1,000 secondary schools, 90 computer resource centers, 17 National Colleges of Education (for teacher training), the Ministry of Education, National Institute of Education, eight provincial ICT centers and the project management offices of Secondary Education Modernization Project. o Another 5,000 schools are to be connected to this fully secured and managed network by 2010 – follow up statistic not found o Allows all schools island wide access to a centralized IT network at any given time, which will enable them to communicate with the Network Operations Centre, located at the University of Moratuwa. o Services include the provision of network connectivity, management, safe Internet access, and a Learning Management System to host learning materials for different course modules. o The network can carry Internet Protocol (IP) traffic – voice, video, mission critical and standard class data facilitating island wide schools with seamless connectivity. eSri Lanka Program o The ICT Agency is currently working with the National Administration Reforms Committee to set up a framework to reform government processes to introduce ICT, impart basic awareness to around 10,000 government employees and train another 4,000, set up local and intra networks, appoint Chief Innovation Officers to be in charge of the process in each government agency and provide a “single window” for government services to citizens. OLPC Sri Lanka o The One Laptop per Child project is to be introduced in all the provinces by the OLPC Lanka Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Education and several local and 7
foreign financial, technological and academic institutions. This initiative is expected to benefit two million children. Public Access Partners Synergy Strategies Group (EasySeva Partner) USAID/Last Mile Initiative (EasySeva Partner) Key Library/ICT Innovators ICT4Peace Blog, authored by Sanjana Hattotuwa, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives and Head of ICT and Peacebuilding at InfoShare, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sources School Net Sri Lanka: http://www.schoolnet.lk/index.php?lang=en&for=default&page_id=18 Sri Lankan Government News Portal: http://www.news.lk TASCHA Public Access Landscape Study, 2009: http://faculty.washington.edu/rgomez/projects/landscape/countryreports/Sri%20Lanka/Report_Sri_Lanka.pdf Sri Lanka Library Association http://www.slla.org.lk/index.php/about ICT4Peace Blog http://ict4peace.wordpress.com/ Synergy Strategies Group, Easy Seva Report: http://www.ssg-advisors.com/files/SLLessonslearned.pdf Serving Sri Lanka Blog, “Easy Seva to connect the unconnected in rural communities” http://servesrilanka.blogspot.com/2007/09/easy-seva-to-connect-unconnected-in.html National Library of Sri Lanka http://www.natlib.lk These backgrounders was prepared as a part of the Beyond Access Initiative and attempt to provide an accurate picture of the state of access to libraries, ICT venues, and other sources of information in the states they profile. After establishing the historical background of these venues, special attention is paid to innovative library and ICT programs and partnerships that seek to break down the unique barriers to access faced by each country. The backgrounders used the most recent information available, encompassing academic and government reports, news articles, and commentary from bloggers and other online resources.
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