John Keells takes English for life to Jaffna

The John Keells English for Life scholarship program was launched in Jaffna recently. This was in culmination of program launches held in ten other districts of the country, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Trincomalee and Vavuniya.

Implemented through Gateway Language Centres, English for Life is designed to help youth aged between 17-25 gain practical skills in English together with a basic knowledge of IT and soft skills, towards enhancing their employability.

The program attracted over 4,000 applicants, of whom over 1,500 were awarded scholarships after a placement test set by Gateway. The scholarships cover course fees, examination fees, textbooks and other course material.

The Chief Guest, Head, English Language Teaching Centre, University of Jaffna, Sunthereswaran emphasized the importance of Jaffna youth mastering the English Language which has become essential both for advanced studies and employment. Make English your friend, not your enemy, he advised the 150 scholars selected to follow the course in Jaffna.

Executive Vice President and Head of CSR, John Keells Holdings PLC, Lallith Ramanayake said being able to extend to Jaffna the English for Life program at a time when English has become essential for most jobs.

The potential for youth with a good foundation of English and IT, especially in the multi-million dollar industry of Business Process Outsourcing, he emphasized the need for youth to constantly update their knowledge on both skills as well as soft skills.

Manager, John Keells Social Responsibility Foundation, Ms. Carmeline Jayasuriya congratulated the scholars on their selection for the program and said that for John Keells, this was not only an investment in the scholars individual development, but also an investment in the future of Sri Lanka as a nation, especially in these promising times.