English as a Life Skill – a special initiative to improve and widen the teaching of English in the country was launched today with the immediate goal of entry into the IT related Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, to attract investment from the booming BPO industry in India.

This Job-Oriented English Language Programme is an initiative by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which in the short-term seeks to produce at least 50,000 persons with communicative skills in English to serve in any capacity, especially in the services sector such as IT related BPO industries.

The programme was launched with the opening English Teaching Business Mela - a Business Exchange at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo today, organized by the Board of Investment (BOI) of the Ministry of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, in collaboration with the Presidential Secretariat and the Indian High Commission in Colombo. This brings together reputed English Language teaching institutions from India and institutions teaching English from the Sri Lankan private sector.

Key participants at the launch of the Business Exchange were Minister of Enterprise Development and Business Promotion Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Secretary to the President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, and High Commissioner for India Mr. Alok Prasad.

This Exchange will facilitate the establishment of joint ventures between Indian and Sri Lankan investors on English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka, which will attract a range of investment incentives from the BOI.

English as a Life Skill also aims to improve the skills of English Language teachers both in the private and public sectors, the use of new methods of English Language teaching, including use of the electronic media, and opening access to a large number of persons in the low income categories to obtain a working knowledge of English.

Targeted in this programme are youth above 18 years for intensive English language skills improvement. Up to 50,000 persons between ages 18 and 24 will be assisted over a period of three years to acquire Job Oriented Communicative English Skills through a special loan scheme subscribed by both the Government and Private Sector.

Teach the teachers

On the overall improvement of English Language teaching in Sri Lanka, both for specialist and general communication, the programme will initially select suitable candidates for 30 scholarships, offered by the Government of India, for a 3 months training course for Master Trainers in English Teaching at the reputed English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) in Hyderabad, India.

The Presidential Secretariat and the Board of Investment looks forward to the fullest cooperation to this initiative by the public and private sectors, which will have tax concessions and infrastructure facilities for those investing in good and result-oriented training in English; establish a Centre for English Language Teaching (CELT) in Sri Lanka by the EFLU of Hyderabad, India, and will conduct examinations for certification of English Language skills of teachers, and help develop Distance Learning Programmes through the Sri Lankan electronic media.