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Friday, March 05, 2010 - 10.15 GMT |
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SL- India
Centre for English Language Training to be
opened |
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Foreign Secretary of India, Smt Nirupama Rao will formally open the Sri Lanka India Centre for English Language Training (SLICELT) in Peradeniya on Sunday (7 Mar).
This Centre, expected to develop into a focal point of English Language Training in Sri Lanka, is established jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Indian Government on the initiative of the Presidential Task Force on English and IT. It is supported by the Government of India and the ADB funded Education for Knowledge Society Project (EKSP) of the Education Ministry.
Technical assistance to legitimize ‘Sri Lankan English’ as a distinct variety of the many ‘Englishes’ currently used in the world and disseminate it with an emphasis on the Spoken Form throughout the country is sourced from the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) of Hyderabad, India.
The SLICELT will take the lead to continuously upgrade the skills of the 400 strong cadre of English Language Master Trainers trained and developed under the Presidential Initiative to deliver Spoken English Teaching Skills to the 22,000 English teachers in government schools.
The SCICELT will also provide technical assistance to the Commissioner General of Examinations to develop Spoken English Testing Tools to be introduced at GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations in 2011 and School Based Assessment (SBA) Tools for evaluating Spoken English Skills from grade 6 onwards.
The SLICELT will also provide technical assistance to the National Institute of Education (NIE) in developing English Syllabi, Curricula, Course Books and Teacher Guides placing emphasis on Listening and Speaking Skills in keeping with the objectives of the Presidential Initiative on ‘English as a Life Skill’. The new Centre will also assist the Education Publications Division (EPD) of the Ministry in the publication of state-of-the-art course books on Spoken English for schools.
Known as the National College of English Education (NCOEE) and earlier still as the Peradeniya Teacher Training College, the SLICELT is set in a 65-acre property that has much scope for expansion. The facilities of this centre include several buildings for administration and teaching, as well as Halls of Residence with single-room accommodation facilities for 400. Much of these facilities are underused at present, and these will be renovated and refurbished in due course to maximize their use.
“This is only the beginning of a huge endeavour of President Mahinda Rajapaksa which aims at the Sri Lankanisation (Deshiyakaranaya) of English and its dissemination into all the nooks and corners of rural Lanka,” said Presidential Advisor Sunimal Fernando, Coordinator (English) and Convenor of the Presidential Task Force on English and IT.
“He [Lalith Weeratunga] has plans to see this new Centre emerge as the engine of English Language Training and Learning in the country through which President Rajapaksa’s drive to transform English from a Crown or a Sword into a Pair of Shoes to Travel the World of Knowledge and Technology will help our country reach the goal of a Prosperous Participatory Democracy”, he further stated.
Fernando added that “to start with, EFLU, Hyderabad is today the global centre of English language training for non English speaking countries. And moreover for 2000 years and more India has played a most important role in our cultural and spiritual enrichment. And now when we seek to adopt, adapt, modify and indigenize English and blend it softly and harmoniously rather than threateningly and disruptively as in the past into our own culture, tradition and heritage, taking India as our partner is in my view historically and ideologically both correct and appropriate”.
The Minister of Education, Susil Premajayanth, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on English and IT, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, the Governor of the Central Province Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, the Chief Minister of the Central Province Sarath Ekanayake, the Indian High Commissioner Shri Ashok Kantha, Joint Secretary Ministry of External Affairs Shri T.S.Tirumurti, the Deputy High Commissioner for India Shri Vikram Misri, the Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, the Education Secretary Nimal Bandara, Additional Foreign Secretary Ranjit Uyangoda, K.L Premachandra Director English and Presidential Advisor and Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force Sunimal Fernando will be among those participating at the opening on Sunday.
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