SLIIT Business School conducts annual Soft Skills+ program for secondary school students

• Unleashing hidden potential
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Supporting secondary school students unleash their hidden potential and develop interpersonal capabilities, the SLIIT Business School has organised its much-awaited ‘Soft Skills 2020+’ for the eighth consecutive year.

The program aims to spark interest in soft skills among schoolchildren and encourage out-of-the-box thinking, while improving their creativity, analytical thinking, leadership skills, problem solving, communication skills and teamwork to bridge soft skill abilities. The program also comprises a Soft Skills based quiz and workshop. 

This year’s event is scheduled to take place from 14 February to 6 March with the grand final round on 12 March. 

Held by SLIIT Business School as a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the annual program is approved by the Ministry of Education, with the aim of cultivating essential skills such as team work, problem solving, leadership skills and creative thinking among secondary school students with the participation of schools from districts across the country. The program is also designed to bridge the gap that exists in the current education curriculum. 

Preliminary rounds with nine parallel sessions are scheduled to take place in Kandy, Malabe, Kurunegala, Badulla, Ratnapura, Matara, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa and Jaffna. SLIIT anticipates the participation of 350 schools and over 1,000 school students, islandwide. 

Commenting on the program, SLIIT Business School Dean Prof. Samantha Thelijjagoda said, “We are extremely proud to announce this year’s ‘Soft Skills+ 2020’ program for the eight consecutive year, specifically designed for young adults as a catalyst towards preparing them for formal vocational training and to provide opportunities for them to try different skills which will help them in ultimately select the vocation of their choice as adults.”

In 2019 the program was conducted in Malabe, Kandy, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Matara, Ratnapura and Bandarawela with the participation of 205 teams representing 112 schools countrywide. The preliminary rounds, conducted in English, comprised three quiz rounds each. Questions were displayed in Sinhala and Tamil as well to encourage and support the students further. Questions were related to International Trade, Business in Sri Lanka and around the world. The top scoring teams from the preliminary rounds qualified for the grand finale held at the SLIIT Malabe Campus. 

Last year, a total of 39 teams participated in the Grand Finale, with Ananda College, Colombo emerging as the Champions. Kattankudy Central College were awarded the 1st Runners-up and Mahajana College, Jaffna became the 2nd runner’s-up. 

SLIIT Business School invites all schools to witness this grand event and win attractive prizes. Be a part of this program and discover your true potential. Application can be downloaded via https://www.sliit.lk/soft-skills-2020/ or the SLIIT Softskills+ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SLIIT.Softskills/.