However, before jumping to the conclusion that KMC's performance is really bad one must note the following caveat. The gap between the top score of 60 and the bottom score of 43 is not that wide. Thus while it would have been nice if Kandy had done better the relatively small gap suggests that the there is not that much of a difference in the overall performance between Kandy and the top performers. What is more interesting is how Kandy performs in each of the ten categories.

First the good news. Kandy does quite well “Infrastructure and business services” (18th). This category includes roads, electricity telecommunication, market facilities, water, and garbage disposal. Note that this is a comparative measure and there is a lot of room for improvement.
Kandy also does well securing 17th place in “Tax administration, burdens and services.” This measures the reasonableness of local taxes and the services that the local authority provides for the taxes that businesses pay.

In five of the ten indices Kandy is placed in the bottom one-third but performance is not that bad. The really bad news is in “Legal institutions and conflict resolution” where Kandy is placed a distressing 47th out of 48 and “Registration, permits and licenses” where the position is 44th. This probably won't come as a surprise to the Kandy business community who invariably have stories to tell how difficult it is to secure business and building permits, the cost that the process involves and how disputes between the KMC and business houses on indefinitely without resolution.

Mayor L B Aluvihare and the council as well as officials would do well to address these issues. The recently formed Development Committee of the KMC and the Business Community hopefully will help this process.

*TAF, The Draft Summary Report- Economic Governance Index 2007, TAF, Colombo,200

The University of Peradeniya which introduced external degrees as far back as 1961 and started Worker Education Programmes in the 1970s has radically revamped its distance education system under a new Centre for Distance and Continuing Education (CDCE). Peradeniya has amalgamated two existing divisions, namely the Division of External Examinations and the Centre for Extension Education to form the new Centre. Professor Luxhman Wijeyeweera who until recently was the Dean of the Faculty of Dental Sciences has been appointed as its first director.

It is well known that only about 15% of the candidates who qualify for university admission at the GCE (AL) each year are able to secure a place in a university in Sri Lanka. Others have to either go abroad at very considerable expense or simply forego a university education. There are yet others who take a job after leaving school and wish to pursue higher education at a later stage in their career. Professor Wijeyeweera says that the CDCE is especially designed to cater to these groups. The Centre will also design new and innovative courses and programms of study to cater to the emerging needs of the Sri Lankan job market, he noted. The CDCE will offer a variety of programmes that will lead to Certificates, Diplomas and Bachelor Degrees.

CDCE will receive technical assistance from the ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Distance Education Modernization Project especially to develop capacity to design online training programmes. It will also establish Regional Centres to provide online access to course material and learning resources. A key feature of CDCE programs will be their flexibility. Classes will be held over evenings, weekends and vacations to cater to the different needs of students.

For more information visit the Centre Distance Education University of Peradeniya or call (081)2392208.

A Laptop for Every Child

If the dream of a few visionaries is realized every child in the world will become the proud owner of a laptop computer that one of the world's most prestigious technological universities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA has helped produce.

Known as the XO laptop, it is children's machine designed for “learning learning.” The idea of the XO laptop originated in the MIT media lab in the 1960s. A professor from MIT Nicholas Negroponte who in his bestselling book “Being Digital” (1995) predicted that IT will bring the information world and the entertainment world together is the inspiration behind this “One Laptop per Child” (OLPC) project. OLPC is a non-profit organization. In 2005 Professor Negroponte publicly announced the XO laptop would be available for as little as $100 per laptop. Since then the actual cost has doubled to almost $200. Even at that higher price the XO will be a major breakthrough to bring the world of IT-based learning to the poor of the world.


OLPC describes the XO laptop as a “flexible, ultra-low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of developmentimmediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning.”

The key features of the XO are:
• No electricity required it can be recharged by a child using a crank, pedal or pull-cord that comes with the laptop. It also has a battery that can be recharged
• Designed to last at least five years
• No hard drive (to crash) and only two internal connectors to ensure durability
• It has a stereophonic audio system with inbuilt microphone and speakers.
• It has a camera
• It has wireless connectivity. There is no need for phone lines or any such conventional connection. Internet access to the XO comes through “gateways” that will be established in schools. It can also connect to other laptops in the vicinity.

The XO user can browse the internet, chat with one or two other people in the neighbourhood, transmit pictures using the inbuilt camera, write essays that two others can join in to help or edit, download books, do arithmetic, play computer games, maintain a journal or even write software.

The XO is carefully designed in size and weight for easy handling by a child. It weighs about 1.5kg. The XO is designed to be dirt and moisture resistant. It has a distinctive appearance with a green colour case that is instantly recognizable as an XO laptop. The idea is to discourage it being sold in the gray market.

The OLPC Foundation is approaching governments in the developing countries to fund the laptops for children. The Foundation hopes to raise funds for “Special” programmes to provide laptops to children such as those living in refugee camps who won't be covered by government programmes.

Starting November 12th 2007 OLPC will start a program for a limited period of time that will allow donors who wish to help a child in a developing country to send $399 and get one XO machine for oneself and give the other to a child in a developing county. However, a donor can simply send money at the rate of $200 per laptop to fund laptops for children.

The major constraint on making the XO available to children in the poorer countries will be money. For example, in 2006 the Government of Sri Lanka spent an average of about Rs 21,000 on each student studying in government schools. This is more or less the same amount that an XO laptop would cost. It is unrealistic to expect the government to spend such an amount to purchase laptops for Sri Lankan school children. Given the cost the scheme is unlikely to benefit the poor in the near term unless substantial donor funding is available.

OLPC also needs volunteers to contribute learning material for the archive that it is creating for children that can be accessed through the web using the XO laptop. If you are interested in preparing such material it could be material on Sri Lanka or any other subject you have some expertise in - visit the website http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home for more details.