SOFT SKILLS – ENGLISH – INFORMATION TECHONOLOGY – SCIENCE AND PERSONALITY BUILDING FOR PROFESSIONALS AND JOURNILISTS
Posted on April 1st, 2016
Sarath Wijesinghe – former Ambassador to UAE and Israel- Solicitor Attorney -at -Law-CEO Sri Lanka 2050-
Development of Soft Skills is necessary for the development of a Nation in this competitive world becoming closer fast disintegrating physical borders due to developments on IT Language and skills. Human development is a main source of the development of a successful country. State of Israel is a world power with less or no resources mainly due to the development of skills based on knowledge and Technology of the citizen. It is famous for innovations and explorations on Hi Tec Agritcultire and Advanced sconce and technology. Every Israel citizen who has the right to return, is an innovator with sufficient knowledge on technology. Israel Citizens spread worldwide as world leaders claiming 15 Nobel Prizes and controls in world organization on various subjects. They are leaders on Agritcultire, Water and Technology claiming 95% of their agritcultire is technology. They are what they are today due to sheer necessity. They made the barren patch of land owned 70 years ago one of the most developed and powerful end nations guiding leaders of the world on Agritcultire, Water and technology despite threats from the neighbours around.
Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans are no second to other citizens having proved their inherent talents dominating the world on many fields. 1.8 million of the Sri Lankan population serves two Nations in Nation building and contributing to the development of the motherland. 10% of the Philippine population also in foreign employment in a more organized way serving two nations. They do better than us due to better skills on language Presentation and experience gathers at home which offers to citizen in a more organized fashion. With no hard feelings and due respect to Indians, Sri Lankan are more advanced, talented and accepted to the world due to their hard work, mannerism, intelligence and approach to the world. We have world renewed professionals and intellectuals, but majority of the professionals, workers, and persons on other walks of life need to improve soft skills for better results for themselves and the country.
Sri Lanka 2050 is a non-political and non-profitable organization consisting of concerned likeminded professional and intercouples in Nation building in various areas and Felds. We conducted successful projects / workshops on Geneva Issue, Death Penalty, CEPA/ECTA, and Kidney Diseases ( CKDU) and planning workshop on Soft Skills and Formation of a Kidney Bank in Sri Lanka on 27th April nod 26th May respectively. We have all our deliberations at the main Auditorium of the organization of Professionals off Reid Avenue near Colombo University Arts Faculty.
26th April event we have invited Professor Rajive Wijesinghe, Mr Sunimal Fernando, Department of English in Universities and Departments of IT, Science and Technology in Universities and private educational institutions. British Council is a partner in the process and the organizers will be inviting US Aid and many others organizations and personalities interested and leaders in the area of expertise.
We thank British Council having agreed to be a partner in this process and the other groups and individuals join hands with us. Entrance is free for all and the target group are the professionals, those in employment, IT sector and Journalists. We have extended the invitation to Private Schools, Universities, and Privanas” for the improvement of skills to Buddhist monks.
This is our initial communication seeking your view and assistance and participation and al your views and suggests welcome.
We look ford to hearing from you soon
Sarath Wijeisnghe
Former Ambassador Solicitor, Attorney -at -Law
April 2nd, 2016 at 3:34 am
Nice to read a bit from Sarath.Perhaps you may no me from the past where you came to my building in Kandy while the late minister was opening the Sathose nearby with long speeches.
I gather you want to stress how important the English Language is for everyone. Behind my house in sunny Belgravia is the Buddhist society and next to it is the big English language centre.
We see many kids from many countries been sent here to learn English and they are the most privileged ones with money to afford.
I would urge likes of you to use your powers to make English compulsory in every school. Spoken English is a must and must get expatriates from UK and NZ to come to our schools and be of some help.
You have seen how the lifestyle and culture of the people here, especially on the roads where SL driving etiquette is dismal which tell much about the people in the country as a whole. But I must say that my level of English had gone down since coming there as I deal mostly with foreigners and plebs.So try and make SL into another UK and make sure SL is open to them to settle where our young could learn a bit or two from them.
April 2nd, 2016 at 3:37 pm
I want to add my voice to Nimal’s in supporting ENGLISH EDUCATION in Sri Lanka, despite my being a fan of the Sinhala Buddhist culture of our Motherland that makes my heart sing.
The reason is simple: the excellent English education I received in Sri Lanka enabled every success, bar none, that I have had in later life. I want every child now growing up in Sri Lanka to have that same opportunity.
In the modern world, increasingly linked together by global communications systems that places all of its resources at our fingertips, the command of English will make the difference between who thrives, and who merely survives.
This was recently brought home to me rather vividly. I have been “adopting” and assisting poor village children in Sri Lanka acquire an education comparable to those attending well known Colombo schools that impart a good English education to their pupils. I found that although these children are among their smartest in their outstation schools, their knowledge of English is abysmal. Usually, they either FAIL, or merely PASS, in English Language at GCE O-Level exam, and promptly revert to Sinhala-only once that compulsory barrier is circumvented. No one advises these children, that their avoidance of English will be an indelible blight on their future, and compels them to become proficiect in English.
One of the biggest problems confronting these Sinhala-stream children is the lack of GOOD TEXTBOOKS written in Sinhala to supplement their class notes. As a result, if the teacher is mediocre, they no way of getting additional help, except to go for expensive tuition classes that few can afford, and often are unavailable in most outstation areas.
The Department of Education of the Government of Sri Lanka provides FREE downloadable textbooks for Grades upto the GCE O-Level, but not for GCE A-Level students. Most books are available online in Sinhala and a few in English. I have downloaded all of these courses for all Grades onto inexpensive laptop/tablet computers and gifted them to these children.
Reading through these DOE-provided textbooks, I found them to be of high quality in many “Arts” subjects such as Sinhala Language, Buddhism, History and Citizenship & Governance, but of mediocre quality in “Science” subjects such as Mathematics, Science, English, and Communications & Media Studies, no doubt reflecting the educational backgrounds of the authors themselves.
I went to commercial and government bookshops in Sri Lanka, and their websites, to see whether they had books that I could buy for the children to supplement the lessons taught by the teachers in class. There were very few available, and NONE for GCE A-Level students. Therefore, Sinhala-stream A-Level students have no outside help short of going for tuition classes!
This situation now, is very different from what I experienced long-ago as an English-stream Science student at one of the leading Colombo schools in Sri Lanka. Our prescribed textbooks, especially at both the GCE O-Level and GCE A-Level were written in English by foreign authors and were of excellent quality. As a student, I not only learned from the class notes, but also from both the prescribed textbooks, and any others I could borrow from the library, and buy from bookshops such as the Lakehouse bookshop. Our homework included assignment from the problems given at the end of each chapter in the prescribed textbooks. When preparing for the GCE O-Level and GCE A-Level exams I usually studied far beyond the prescribed syllabuses, especially in Science, Pure anmd Applied Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. THat was possible because I had ACCESS TO MANY BOOKS written in English in these subjects. I did not go for one tution class in my entire life. I weep for students taking these same exams in Sri Lanka today.
I bought excellent physical textbooks and e-textbooks written in English for Science Subjects (Spoken and Written English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology etc) that are widely available in the United States, and Amazon “Fire” readers for the e-textbooks, to assist my “adopted” children overcome this deficiency in textbook availability.
However, given their poor command of English, the books are of not much use until they become proficient in English. So, I have enrolled all of the children in Spoken and Written English classes, irrespective of their age, hoping that someday they will be able to access the knowledge available, often for free, in Englishand enrich their lives.
April 4th, 2016 at 5:01 am
Ananda
Thank you for your positive contribution and hope your business venture is doing fine and for me it is frustrating to say the least.Can’t turn my back on my stupid lot.