Inauguration of English Language Lab, built with grant assistance of Govt. of India, in Ratnapura

High Commissioner of India Y.K. Sinha and Governor of Sabaragamuwa province Marshal Perera jointly inaugurated an English Language Lab in Kahawatta, Ratnapura on 13 September, at a function held at Ruwanpura National College of Education, Kahawatta. Assistant High Commissioner of India, Kandy Radha Venkataraman, Director, Tamil Schools Development of Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka, S. Muralidharan and other senior officials were also present during the occasion.

The Language Lab in Ruwanpura National College of Education is one of the nine labs that the Government of India has set up in each of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Other labs are in Gampaha (Western Province), Kandy (Central Province), Bingiriya (North Western Province) and Adalaichenai (Eastern Province), Matara (Southern Province), Badulla (Uva Province), Kopay (Northern Province) and Polonnaruwa (North Central Province). 

The project has been 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 total cost of the project is Rs. 84 million, implemented under full grant assistance of the Government of India. As part of the project, Government of India has provided 31 computer units and other related equipment, software and latest sophisticated teaching aids to each centre, and has also trained five master trainers for each centre. The objective of the project is to help enhance English Language training infrastructure in Sri Lanka; impart training to English language teachers from schools, colleges and universities in Sri Lanka; upgrade their skills; and raise the general level of proficiency in English.