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Tuesday, June 09, 2009 - 08.07 GMT |
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US help to train English teachers in Sri
Lanka |
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US
Embassy
joins
hands
with
Cities
of
Excellence
Initiative
to train
English
teachers
from
different
parts of
Sri
Lanka.
Thirty
English
teachers
from the
districts
of
Anuradhapura,
Polonnaruwa,
Jaffna
and
Batticaloa
received
their
certificates
recently
after
successful
completion
of a
three
week
training
program.
This
pilot
program
on
English
teacher
training
is a
component
of the
Government
of Sri
Lanka’s
Cities
of
Excellence
Initiative.
The
Ministry
of
Education
with the
assistance
of the
Presidential
Task
Force on
English
and IT
implemented
the
project.
It was
coordinated
by the
Secretariat
for
Coordinating
the
Peace
Process
(SCOPP)
and
supported
by the
US
Embassy,
Colombo
and the
Sri
Lanka
National
Commission
for
UNESCO.
The
United
States
Embassy
provided
the
trainers
Mr.
Daniel
Ringold
and Ms.
Frances
Westbrook
in
addition
to
financial
assistance.
Dr.
Sunimal
Fernando,
Presidential
Advisor
and
Coordinator,
Presidential
Task
Force on
English
and IT,
shared
his
aspirations
of
following-up
the
project
with
reciprocal
exchanges
of
teachers
between
the
North
and the
South.
Referring
to
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa’s
vision,
Dr.
Fernando
also
stressed
the
importance
for
members
of
Sinhalese
and
Tamil
communities
of
relating
first to
each
other in
their
own
languages,
and
using
English
to
“relate
to the
outside
world,
to
access
knowledge
and
technology.”
At the
award of
certificates
to the
teachers
who
completed
the
pilot
project,
Mr. Jeff
Anderson
of the
US
Embassy
said,
though
this
particular
session
has
reached
its
completion,
we don’t
see it
as an
end but
a
beginning;
and we
at the
US
Embassy
are
eager to
participate
in the
next
steps of
the
program.
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