Challenges of teaching Information and Communication Technology in estate schools of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the dominant field in all institutes in the current Era. With the emergence of ICT, Sri Lanka’s education system also included ICT as a subject in their school curriculum in order to offer the country the most successful future citizens who will take part in the country’s economy. While the use of ICT is rapidly growing, this research is aimed to identify the challenges faced by teachers and students when teaching and learning ICT in Estate schools. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for this study to identify the most important challenges in this field. Structured and unstructured interviews and observation mechanisms were used for the primary data collection to identify the major challenges in this field. This study identified three major challenges, they are Language Barriers and lack of Knowledge in other key subjects such as English, mathematics etc, the insufficient number of periods, poor technological background of the students, the Technology Barriers and Fear of Administration. In addition this research identified the students' positive attitude towards learning ICT.