(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – On the request of the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka, the High Commission of India has facilitated 5-customized capacity building training courses for educational administrators, officials, curriculum developers and school heads by the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) Chennai under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. About 200 Sri Lankan officials in education sector are expected to benefit from these courses.
NITTTR, Chennai is organizing training modules on (i) Curriculum Design & Evaluation and Instructional Material Development for Administrators and Curriculum Developers (ii) Enhancing Leadership Skills and Managerial Skills of School Heads (iii) Design of Educational Applications using Web Technologies (iv) IT Tools for Effective Administration, and (v) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for Administrators.
Speaking at the inaugural session on 14 March 2022, Deputy High Commissioner Shri Vinod K. Jacob reiterated India’s support for capacity building training and commitment to partner with friends in Sri Lanka for sharing its expertise. He said that because of the inability of Sri Lankan officials to undertake visits to India on account of COVID pandemic, India began conducting online Courses in early April, 2020 under the refurbished e-ITEC and since then, more than 600 participants from Sri Lanka have benefitted from online training courses in the areas of Health, Ayurveda, Governance, Petroleum and Hydrocarbon, Renewable & Alternate Energy, Urban Planning, Women Empowerment, IT and Cyber Security, Policing, Banking and Management, Education, Engineering & Technology, Management & Leadership etc.
Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawarathna, Director General, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka gave a special address in which he stressed on the introducing education reforms in Sri Lanka while underling the importance of the 21st century education needs.
Prof. Dr. Usha Natesan, Director, NITTTR spoke about the prominent role of her Institute in the educational sector, including in teachers training and its collaboration with friendly countries, including Sri Lanka. Ms. Jayani Thilakaratne, Director (HR), Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka Dr. G.A. Rathy, Coordinator of the programme; Prof. Dr. G. Kulanthaivel, ITEC Coordinator at NITTTR; and Dr. Sushil Kumar, Counsellor (Technical Cooperation & HOC) also attended the inaugural session.
India offers 402- fully funded ITEC training slots to Sri Lanka every year for short term training courses towards enhancing the skill-set of officials. India also offers about 710 scholarship slots annually to Sri Lankan students enabling them to pursue Undergraduate, Masters and Research in diverse subjects in India.
