English as a Life Skill programme:

India, first to offer help - envoy

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

India is the first country which offered technical and material assistance for the success of the English as a Life Skill programme, said Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Ashok K Kantha. He was speaking at a ceremony where a Memorandum of Understanding between Sri Lanka and India was signed, under the 'English as a Life Skill' programme at the BMICH yesterday.

This programme has been implemented on a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and organized by the Presidential Task Force dealing with the subject, in collaboration with the Education Ministry.

"President Mahinda Rajapaksa has taken measures to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. This is one of the most important steps taken by the President to reduce the gap between the has and have nots. Developing English as a life skill is a timely need," K. Kantha said.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana said the MoU signed between Sri Lanka and India also provides for a very broad area of technical assistance from India for the programmes.

According to the minister, during the two and a half years of the Presidential initiative on English as a Life Skill, the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in India has trained 80 English language master trainers from the Education Ministry on scholarships awarded by the Indian government. "This will enable the testing of speaking and listening skills in English to be introduced into the Sri Lankan education culture for the very first time," he said.

"These master trainers in turn have trained all 23,000 English teachers in the country and they have also trained our teachers to train our children to speak English in our own way," Gunawardana said.

"English should be taught to our children as an important life skill,because it is a tool for employment,occupation and a means by which knowledge is accessed from the outside world," Presidential Advisor and Convener of the Presidential Task Force on English and IT Suniamal Fernando said.

Education Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunasekara, Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe, National Institute of Education Director General W.M. Abeyratne Bandara, BMICH Director General Bandula Ekanayake, and officials of the Indian High Commission, Presidential Secretariat, External Affairs Ministry, Education Ministry and Provincial Authorities of Education also participated.