Sri Lanka, India join hands to teach English in schools
Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K.Kantha and Sri Lankan Minister for Education Bandula Gunawardhana exchanging documents in Colombo on Tuesday. Photo: R.K. Radhakrishnan
Sri Lanka and India have come together in a major initiative to expand teaching English in schools in this country.
Though launched in 2009 after President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared ‘English as a Life Skill,’ the joint initiative, which has reached out to about 23,000 teachers, will be expanded in a major way with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday.
“We remember with gratitude that the first country that came forward to offer both technical and material assistance for the success of the Presidential initiative on English was India,” said Sri Lankan Minister for Education Bandula Gunawardana, after he inked the MoU with High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha.
As part of the MoU, India will train 40 Sri Lankan English Teachers in the first batch, who will be the master-trainers for teachers. The teachers will travel to Hyderabad-based English and Foreign Languages University, on the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation scholarship. India will help in establishing nine Centres for English language training — one in each of the provinces.
Soon after the ceremony, Mr. Kantha and Mr. Gunawardana were working on sorting out the remaining formalities, to enable the teachers to travel at an early date. The Sri Lankan Ministry had already selected the teachers, and was working on their visa request papers. Mr. Kantha assured that the visa process would be fast-tracked.
Mr. Gunawardana wanted India to help expand the programme using distance learning and e-learning techniques, and wanted India to help establish English libraries in the nine centres.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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OH,GOD, many Indians dont speak good english
Maybe, SL will be better off with Chinese and russian english teachers.
I don’t understand the mentality of those who are in hire ranks. Everybody knows that the Indians are very poor in pronunciation of the international language. There was a English teacher training school in Maharagama, which the institute was recognized by the boards of Northern Ireland England and Wales.They offer qualified teacher status to Sri Lankan teachers.Our teachers can teach English in England. There is no “Our way of speaking English” or Indians way of Speaking English! English has to be English. Not Singlish!!!!!!!!!!!!Wherrrre is our countrrrrrry heading forrrr? All good educated people are leaving the country because of the way they are being handled…Poor mother country Sri Lanka May God Bless You!
F..king jesus god never be happy…!
I am a Sri Lankan visited so many countries.only the tung speaking English can understand and pure sounds Our peoples. Joke is Indians teaching us we forget correct English. Achcharu English. all language mixed they teach us.
Vast.
Mr Amden you are using F …against Jesus. Jesus has nothing to do with what our people do. Try to compare yourself to Jesus. Are you worthy of living….Sorry about this!
I teach English here with more than 20 Indian teachers. I am the only Sri Lankan. I know them better. Their accent is so bad and hard to understand. They always keep rolling ‘r’ round and round. They use continuous form often and inappropriately. Even these Indian teachers very openly accept that the we Sri Lankan use English very fluently and correctly. Don’t we have good teacher trainers in our country?
first of all Do the Indians speak English
it would be better the other way around that is if srilankans taught English to the Indians as it is a known fact that We Sri-Lankans pronounce better English than the British guys.
any way ma God Save the Queen.
There may be many good things we can learn from India but not English. If the Education Ministry is so concerned on improving English language teaching, send these teachers to UK. It will be an investment for years to come that brings benefits to our future generation.