Education

Aspirations Education celebrates 7th anniversary

Sri Lanka: Aspirations Education (AE) an international career guidance and student placement service centre in Sri Lanka will be celebrating its 7th year anniversary this year, a company spokesperson said. The centre currently works with over 120 prominent universities and institutes in Australia, UK, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Malaysia, India and Singapore.

Team Aspirations Education team

Students who aspire to study abroad should be given proper guidance at the right time. They should be able to get accurate and authentic information with regard to options available.

Such guidance will help students with lower costs, increased chances of university acceptance, cultural adaptability and even increased chances of financial assistance.

This may improve students' profile in obtaining visas and most of all enhance career opportunities in today's global economy.

Aspirations Education Chairman Ajith Abeysekera commenting about the commitment of the education centre, "Aspirations Education was born out of a resolute commitment to be a fountain of inspiration to the Sri Lankan community to help students to realize their aspirations.

Our core business model is providing career guidance and counselling services to students who wish to pursue their education overseas.

Aspirations have offered its free of charge services to thousands of students over the past seven years. It is very well-known for its excellent counselling and genuine career guidance among the Sri Lankan students."

Aspirations Education introduced an industry first sustainability model providing access to education for the deprived through the contribution of the able individuals who travel overseas pursuing their education.

Since its inception in 2007, the aim of the scholarship programme was to assist students of low-income groups, who were deprived of the basic necessities in life, to follow a continuous school career. For three consecutive years Aspirations Foundation has been sustaining 115 deserving students from 15 districts in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Ampara, Badulla, Moneragala, Matara, Galle, Kalutara, Colombo, Gampaha, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Kandy, and Matale, through the Scholarship Programme. The selection of candidates for the Apeksha programme was carried out by the senior officials of Aspirations Education under the direction of heads of schools and tutorial staff; and subsequently, an in-depth survey was conducted to select students who needed financial assistance the most. Civil authorities of the respective areas assisted the course by assessing the actual living standards of the selected families.

Aspirations Education General Manager Deepamala Abeysekera explained, "by receiving their professional services free of charge, students who can afford studies abroad, will effortlessly and routinely be helping their sisters and brothers who are not as fortunate as them, through the innovative and social entrepreneurial process Aspirations have set in motion".

The company maintains ethical business standards while trying to expand its services using new technology. Launch of www.tweetuni.com is an initiative, to use social media to help students interact direct and live with university representatives around the world.

Harvard University Leadership Summit:

Sri Lankan teens to attend

Since the year 2000 over 650 Sri Lankan teenagers has experienced this amazing week in the USA which has changed their lives forever. Since participating in these annual leadership summits 520 of them have entered foreign Universities for higher education. These include Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Upenn, Washington, Mt. Holliork, Notradam, Macalister, Clark, Wisconsin in USA, Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, Griffith, Monash, and UTS in Australia. Oxford, Nottingham, Warrick, Leeds, Sheffield, Kings, LSE and Sussex in UK. In 2012 July, Sri Lanka will be sending 33 promising teenagers to the 'Leadership in Action Summit' at the prestigious Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The program will be conducted by People to People Organisation of The Dwight Eisenhower Foundation, founded in 1956 by the late US President, Dwight Eisenhower. From many entries a final list of 33 promising student leaders have been selected by the Sri Lanka Country Director Ananda Rajapakse.

They are: from Colombo International School Udesh Dharmadasa, Thavisha Tudawe, Musaab Kassim, Amrit Alles, Natasha Nethicumara, Huzefa Gulamhusein, Vinuri Dissanayake, Isha Dedigama, Saajid Wasik, Amresh Selvaskandan, Revatha Shah, Shivani Gunewardena, Takesh Kariawansa and Dewni Thilakawardhena. From Ananda College Uvin Atukorale. Bishops College Nayanthi Peiris; from Royal College Colombo Dinuka Ariyaratne and Thulith Hewage. Wycherly International: Minuri Tissera. The British School in Colombo: Lara Muttiah, Imashi Fernando and Hasini Assiriyage. Asian International School Ramesh Fernando, Nelaka Dayawansa, Ashen Joseph, Pratab Naidu, Natasha Alwis, Thivaedee Narayana and Gowtham Gunesekeran. Stafford International School: Taryana Odayar, Sachin Parathalingam (Headboy) and Danushika Sivanathan. Overseas Children's School Colombo Nikhita Mendis. For photos, www.futureworldleader.org These promising teens are the offspring of some of our leading Sri Lankan corporate leaders, who will aspire to lead our corporate sector into the next decade.

To attend this summit, delegates must be between the ages of 16-19 years. Have a strong command of the English Language and be within the first 25% in class. More details could be obtained by email [email protected]

Gateway students join summer camp in New Zealand

Advanced Level students of Gateway had the opportunity of joining a ten day Summer Camp in New Zealand where they were provided accomodation at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, engaged in some state of the art learning and participate in sightseeing and sport activities. On successful completion, all students received certificates from the University.

Students at the Radio activity workshop

Clip n Climb

During their stay, students interested in Science had the opportunity of participating in workshops related to Colorimetry, Dissections, Nanotechnology, Radioactivity, Volumetric analysis and many more. Similarly, students interested in Commerce participated in workshops related to Management, Economics, Accounting, Managing a company in business simulation, modelling real world behavior Common activities for all students included sightseeing, visits to Akaroa, sport activities, Clip n Climb and ice skating. The students and the officials were hosted to a reception by Bob Parker the Mayor of Christchurch who has been very supportive in developing a link between Gateway and the University of Canterbury. A welcome reception was also held by the Sri Lankan community living in Christchurch.

Gateway Graduate School has joined hands with the University of Canterbury; New Zealand's prestigious University that is ranked among the top 2% in the world, to provide structured pathways for students to begin their Undergraduate Degrees in Sri Lanka and graduate in New Zealand.

University of Canterbury, established in 1873 by scholars of Oxford and Cambridge, has gained an international reputation for academic excellence in teaching and research. Its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are well recognized worldwide, and aim to foster intellectual independence, critical thinking, and professional excellence in every field. The tuition and accommodation costs at UC are approximately 35% less than in comparable to Universities in Australia and the United Kingdom.

New Zealand is the third best country to live in the world, climbing 17 places in the latest United Nations' index.

The students have the opportunity of working in New Zealand after they have completed their studies. Once they have completed their studies in New Zealand, and obtained a New Zealand qualification, they may be eligible for a Graduate Job Search Visa that is designed to assist eligible graduates in finding work in New Zealand.