CBB felicitates English teachers

The Council for Business with Britain (CBB) recently felicitated 119 English language teachers at its annual awards ceremony, where they received their University of Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) certificates.

The ceremony is the yearly culmination of the CBB’s English Language Teacher (ELT) Training Program, carried out with the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education and managed by the British Council with HSBC as the Principal Sponsor and MAS Holdings as the Co-Sponsor and Ceylon Tobacco Company as a Donor, the Program is one facet of the CBB’s goal of building bridges between Sri Lanka and the UK.

Attached to 26 Regional English Support Centres (RESC) around the country, the 119 teachers who received their TKT certificates have undergone extensive English teacher training as part of the CBB’s ELT Training Program. The TKT examination comprises three modules which focus on the core knowledge and skills needed by teachers. As an activity-centred course, the CBB’s ELT Training Program strives to impact students’ English language skills by encouraging their participation in classroom discussions and group activities.

Featuring luminaries from the British and Sri Lankan communities, the annual event saw the handing over of certificates and awards by Guests of Honour including the Education Minister, Susil Premajayantha, UK Trade and Investment Head at the British High Commission Janet Ford, British Council Sri Lanka Country Director, Gilla Westaway, CBB Chairman, Anil Wijesinghe and HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO, Nick Nicolaou and CBB Vice Chairman.

Susil Premajayantha, the Chief Guest at the event lauded the work of the CBB, noting that the Government has identified and highlighted the importance of English for the development of Sri Lanka into a globally competitive nation. Praising the CBB’s work towards this goal, he said that “teacher training is at the heart of improving student performance and helping them achieve more in the workplace.”

British Council Country Director, Gil Westaway said that the CBB’s ELT Training Program has impacted the lives of more than 30,000 Sri Lankan children. In his welcome address, CBB Chairman, Anil Wijesinghe said the importance of continuing to expand the organization’s current initiatives.

For example, in 2009, the CBB began a Sponsor-A-Teacher scheme that allows corporates to directly invest in the effort to upgrade the level of English language instruction.

Companies that are members of the CBB have already sponsored 35 teachers within a few months of the scheme’s launch. Wijesinghe concluded his remarks by mentioning that the next phase is to actively promote this Sponsor-A-Teacher scheme on a nationwide level. He also thanked HSBC for being the Principal sponsor since the inception of the project in 2006.