British Council provides professional development to new Ministry of External Affairs recruits

The Ministry of External Affairs has selected the British Council as the professional development training provider to mould and groom 14 new recruits earmarked as future senior level diplomats and ambassadors. A contract was signed in this regard between the Secretary of External Affairs Karunatilaka Amunugama and the British Council Country Director Tony Reilly on Monday 2 April at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Tony Reilly and Karunathilaka Ahangama sign the contract

These recruits were chosen after a long and rigorous selection process in which hundreds of applicants were screened. They are currently undergoing training before starting work at the ministry. The future ambassadors will work in Colombo before being posted overseas.

As we know, the international language of diplomacy, like in many other sectors, is English.

Supporting the professional development of these new recruits, the British Council’s Professional Teaching Centre will conduct a customised ‘Business Communications Skills’ course. The classes will focus on writing plain English for emails and reports and spoken communication for meetings, presentations and negotiations. British Council Country Director Tony Reilly said, “We’re delighted to have been selected by the Ministry of External Affairs to play a role in grooming Sri Lanka’s next cadre of Ambassadors and Diplomats. It’s an honour to contribute to their professional development.”

The British Council also delivers training to the Ministery of Finance and Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka Tourism Board, among many other top corporate establishments in the private sector.