Gate Institute joins hands with Pratham Foundation in preparation for ASER Assessment and Digital Literacy intervention in Sri Lanka
The Gate Institute is collaborating with India’s Pratham Education Foundation to conduct the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) on children’s schooling and learning, as well as improving digital literacy in identified areas of the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
As a first step, a team of five members from universities in the Northern and Eastern provinces, along with The Gate Institute, participated in a hands-on training organised by Pratham Education Foundation from May 17-19, 2025, in Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu.
Mrs. Mathivathnay Sasistharan, Director of University Business Linkage (UBL), University of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, Mrs. Mery Delcia Antony Christian, Lecturer /Department of Economics, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Assistant Lecturer, Eastern University, Sri Lanka, Ms. Mathangie Selvarajah, Director of The Gate Institute in Sri Lanka, Miss. Sivaranjan Rishivatharany; and Ms. Aruniya Balakrishnan, Researcher, The Gate Institute, Sri Lanka, were part of the group.
Ms. Soumya Nair, Strategic Partnerships & Operations – Girls & Women team, Pratham Education Foundation, along with Ms. Shweta Bhutada, Senior Project Lead, ASER Centre, Pratham Education Foundation, Mr. Divyatej Singh, Education for Education, Pratham Education Foundation, Mr. Kumaresan, Leader of ASER in Tamil Nadu, Pratham Education Foundation; and Mr. Sakthivel, State Head of Tamil Nadu, Pratham Education Foundation, coordinated and organised this workshop and field visit.
The ASER assessment is a citizen-led, household-based survey that measures the learning levels of children in India, as well as in other South Asian countries, such as Nepal and Pakistan, and some African countries. It focuses on basic reading and arithmetic skills in children, particularly those in the elementary school age group.
The Pratham Education Foundation has developed step-by-step intervention tools, such as the “Hamara Gaon” (Our Village/Our Community) intervention, to address the learning crisis identified in this ACER assessment.
Similarly, the Gate Institute conducted a study in collaboration with the University of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, among people aged 12-40 in the Vanni region of the Northern Province. This survey found that nearly 50% do not know how to create, send, and read email, only 17% find employment through websites and social media, only 30% access government services through websites, and 30% do not use social media at all. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address gaps in advanced digital skills, bridge gender disparities, and improve access to digital infrastructure in underserved communities. Pratham Educational Foundation has generously agreed to share the innovative learning tools it has developed to address the digital literacy crisis identified through this study in Sri Lanka.
These workshops and field visits above represent a pioneering step in The Gate Institute’s effort to conduct pilot projects on ACER assessment and digital literacy interventions in collaboration with universities in the Northern and Eastern provinces over the coming months.
