Sri Lankan Youth and their Exposure to Computer Literacy

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to elucidate the level of computer literacy and exposure to the internet among Sri Lankan youth aged 15-29 years based on their main economic activity. In order to achieve this objective a two-layered data collection approach was adopted as the overall methodology of the 2009 National Youth Survey. Quantitative data was collected from a randomly selected sample of 3000 households covering 22 districts out of a total of 25 districts. The conclusions reached from this study were that out of 2921 respondents 57% of youth were computer literate. Out of the 18-24 age group 65% could manage basic functions of the computer as opposed to the 25-29 year olds where only a 43% demonstrated knowledge in computer usage. This indicates that the older group had a lesser opportunity at gaining computer knowledge, which is a fairly recent development in Sri Lanka. It was also revealed that 33% of youth who have a basic knowledge in computer usage have their own computers while 33% have used the internet. In terms of usage and frequency out of the 57% youth who are computer literate 50% use their computers on a daily/weekly basis.