News
Hurried Huawei smart board purchase: The ‘why’ and ‘what’ behind a questionable process
View(s):- Premier Amarasuriya exposes procurement irregularities; formal investigations underway
- Equipment lying idle; questions raised about compatibility with existing system
By Namini Wijedasa
A billion-rupee direct purchase contract to buy classroom smartboards from China’s Huawei Technologies was rushed through at “an unusually accelerated pace” last year, with the procurement process being closed within a month, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament last week.
The purchase was made via the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation (STC) without competitive bidding. Price quotations were called from a single supplier “based on unclear sources that were not officially verified by the Chinese government”, Dr. Amarasuriya, who also holds the education portfolio, said.
Expedited purchase order
Compared with the standard procedure in high-value procurements, the process was concluded uncharacteristically fast. Price quotations were requested on July 5, 2024, and opened ten days later, on July 15, the Prime Minister revealed. A technical evaluation committee submitted its report the following day.
The Cabinet-appointed standing procurement committee reviewed this on July 17 and 18 and gave recommendations the same day. Five days later, on July 23, these were sent to the Cabinet. Approval was granted on July 30. The purchase requisition was issued on August 5.
A letter of credit was then opened to facilitate a payment of US$ 3,135,392.50 (Rs. 929mn) for 1,000 smartboards to Intelligent Express Limited Hong Kong, identified as a representative of Huawei, Dr. Amarasuriya told Parliament. The funds were from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL). The total cost incurred was Rs. 1.7bn, Dr. Amarasuriya said, with the additional sum spent on services and installation.
How the Sunday Times reported on the questionable procurement
The Sunday Times twice highlighted the procurement (finalised just weeks before the presidential election) in October last year. We flagged that the high-priced Huawei smartboards—which we estimated to be at least Rs. 940,000 per board—were to be ordered through STC as a single-source, direct contract; that quotations were not called from other suppliers; and that there was no competitive tender. The price was decided purely on the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value cited by Huawei.
We also pointed out that national procurement guidelines allow for direct contracts as a means of purchasing goods, services or works from a single supplier source only “under exceptional circumstances” because it entails no competition.
One of the situations under which this method is deemed appropriate is where standardisation of equipment “may” justify the additional purchases of the same type of goods to ensure compatibility with existing equipment.
Why Huawei?
Accordingly, Cabinet papers justified the deal by stating that these 1,000 smartboards must be “technically aligned” with a donation of 500 smartboards that had been pledged under a separate US$ 20mn Chinese grant project.
A July 23, 2024-dated Cabinet memorandum (a copy of which The Sunday Times has)—signed and submitted last year by then President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as Technology Minister, and then Education Minister Susil Premajayantha—said Huawei was “the manufacturer of the Chinese aid project”.
Another joint Cabinet memorandum dated May 14, 2024, did not mention Huawei but stressed the need for interoperability and the ability to monitor the schools from a single location so that the “most number of schools” benefitted from the Chinese aid project.
Former STC Chairman Asiri Walisundara reaffirmed this when we contacted him last year, claiming the Chinese had sent the specifications of the equipment they proposed to gift and that the TRCSL-funded smartboards must “tally” with them: “When they (Chinese) are supplying Huawei boards, we can’t buy any other board other than Huawei.”
But the Prime Minister disclosed to Parliament last week that, “While the relevant Cabinet paper indicated Huawei as the designated manufacturer supplying the smart boards under the Chinese funding project, the Chinese government has not yet confirmed the selection of such a supplier for this project.”
Dr. Amarasuriya revealed that the Cabinet memorandum to buy digital smartboards and related equipment for 1,000 selected schools using TRCSL funds was approved on March 4, 2024. It was in May that an additional Cabinet paper was presented proposing that this project be integrated with the China-backed initiative to digitalise schools (comprising a donation of smartboards, a centralised control centre and studio facility).
The procurement of the TRCSL-funded 1,000 smartboards began in July 2024. “However, at the time of purchase, the project proposed by the Chinese government was still at the discussion stage, and no official agreement had been reached regarding the technical specifications of the smart boards,” Dr. Amarasuriya said.
“It is expected that the Chinese aid project is at the discussion stage, and the implementation may extend until the end of this year,” she added. “Further, no official decision has been made regarding the selection of a supplier for the project.”
It is not immediately clear why or how memorandums stating that Huawei was the supplier were presented to the Cabinet if such an agreement had not been reached with the Chinese.
Local purchase preceded Chinese donation
This newspaper had also pointed out that the local procurement was done even before the Chinese equipment reached Sri Lanka.
“Why rush the purchase if those Chinese boards haven’t even arrived?” we quoted a highly placed IT sector source as saying. “This makes the early procurement both illogical and highly questionable, further underscoring the lack of transparency and planning in this entire process.”
Multiple education sector sources separately pointed out that the Education Ministry already had a network access control system (NACS) and a multimedia conference system (MCS) which are fully operational with more than 500 smart boards across schools in Sri Lanka. This infrastructure was not provided through the Chinese grant but was independently procured and installed by the Ministry. And the smartboards now in use across various schools meet the necessary technological requirements for managing and securing educational networks.
Information on the Chinese proposal remains scant. Dr. Amarasuriya told Parliament discussions are ongoing with the Chinese government and that “efforts are being made to secure the proposed facilities from China at the earliest convenience”.
Meanwhile, the government’s 1,000 smartboards and related equipment are now in storage since arriving in October last year. The Prime Minister said this was because the relevant project—which was intended to be implemented with Chinese funding—hasn’t yet begun, and a final agreement regarding network integration facilities and the proposed centralised system is not reached.
This “has resulted in the inability to utilise the equipment for the intended purpose”. If the smartboards are to be distributed, school principals would require clear instructions on their proper use, Dr. Amarasuriya maintained. But with the delay in implementing the Chinese aid project, “specific guidelines on the installation and utilisation of the equipment cannot yet be issued”. And, as network integration cannot be carried out at present, these smart boards “can only be used as standalone classroom units”.
Designed for a Huawei
system
In warehouses now are 50 “high-end” smartboards for teaching classroom and 950 “high-end” smartboards for learning classroom [sic], authoritative sources told The Sunday Times. The other equipment purchased are AI dual cameras; WiFi access points; 24-port LAN (local area network) switches for teaching classroom network installation; Huawei multipoint control units (MCUs) for platform installation; a Huawei videoconferencing service management system (SMC); 1,000 UPS devices and 1,000 smartboard rolling stands.
A private Sri Lankan company won the tender for installation, teacher training, maintenance and onsite support, an STC official said, adding that product specifications were sent by the Education Ministry.
“This list is a significant investment in technology that could support Sri Lanka’s e-classroom goals,” said Sanjana Hattotuwa, a special advisor to the independent foundation, ICT4Peace, which specialises in global cybersecurity norms and research on disinformation. “However, its success or applicability to the Sri Lankan context depends heavily on factors beyond the equipment itself.”
These include teacher training, equitable distribution, curriculum integration, sustainable funding and a comprehensive plan for ongoing support and maintenance, he said. Concerns about the procurement process and cost-effectiveness are also relevant and should be addressed.
Dr. Hattotuwa analysed that the equipment list (which we sent him) “is not compatible with the stated need for technological alignment with existing systems”: “Instead, it appears designed to favour Huawei, potentially at a significantly inflated cost and without proper competitive bidding. The existing NACS and MCS should, in theory, allow for a more flexible and cost-effective approach, using equipment from a variety of vendors.”
The justification for choosing Huawei exclusively is highly questionable and raises serious concerns about transparency and proper procurement procedures, he continued. “The equipment list is technically capable of creating smart classrooms, but it’s the method and justification of its procurement that are incompatible with best practices and the existing infrastructure,” he pointed out.
For instance, while cameras are useful for video conferencing, the need for AI-powered cameras specifically from Huawei isn’t justified by the existing infrastructure, Dr. Hattotuwa said. And the insistence on “high-end” Huawei boards was problematic, given the price.
The MCUs and SMC, he analysed, appear to be specifically Huawei components for managing video conferencing. “Their inclusion is the strongest indicator of a push for a Huawei-centric system, directly contradicting the claim of compatibility with the existing infrastructure,” he asserted. “These items are not needed if the existing MCS is functional.”
Use the stuff, some
experts say
But some experts say that to leave the smartboards idling in warehouses is wasteful and inadvisable.
The government has procured high-end smart boards along with all necessary hardware and software for classrooms under the Education Ministry, one senior IT industry official said.
“While the full potential of these smart boards—such as remote teaching, conferencing, and content management—requires the central solution proposed under the Chinese grant, their basic features can still be utilised effectively right away,” he emphasised.
Features like content creation, interactive teaching, and accessing online educational resources can be used immediately without waiting for the central system.
“By repurposing the procured equipment, we can deploy smart classrooms in advanced-level schools (two to three per district), converting all A/L classes,” he advised. ”These smart classrooms can be connected via the existing fibre broadband network, demonstrating the transformative impact of smart education.”
This approach ensures the technology is not left idle and immediately benefits students and teachers, he said. STC sources also said the equipment can—and should—be put to use.
Premier Amarasuriya told Parliament that a formal investigation has been initiated “to determine whether financial and procedural irregularities have occurred in this procurement”.
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