Seeking to enhance education cooperation, India today set up a language lab in Kandy, the second largest Sri Lankan city to help raise the general level of proficiency in English language.
Minister of Education of Sri Lanka Bandula Gunawardana, and Y K Sinha, the High Commissioner of India, jointly inaugurated a language lab in Kandy, located in the central province.
The lab in Kandy is one of the nine language labs that the Indian government has set up in each of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka.
The first lab in Gampaha of the western province was inaugurated in December 2013. Labs have also been set up in Jaffna, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Badulla and Matara.
This project is being implemented as part of an MoU signed between India and Sri Lanka in 2011 for 'Setting up of a Three-Tier English Language Training System in Sri Lanka.'
The government of India has attached high priority to the education sector in its development partnership with Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission said.
The objective of the project is to help enhance English language training infrastructure in Sri Lanka and raise the general level of proficiency in English language of various sections of society, it said.
The initiative also aims to impart training in the use of English language, familiarise English language teachers from schools, colleges and universities in Sri Lanka with recent trends in English language teaching and upgrade their skills, it added.
To help students from Sri Lanka pursue higher education in Sri Lanka and India, 790 scholarships are offered every year.
Other projects in the education sector include setting up of 40 e-learning centres in eastern, western and southern provinces.
Indian assistance has also seen to the establishment of Faculties of Agriculture and Engineering and renovating 79 war damaged schools in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the north.
