At the invitation of the Chuvash State Pedagogical University (ChSPU) , Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage participated in a collaborative event on 12 January 2023 which included the exposition of activities of the Chuvash State Pedagogical University in Sri Lanka.
Cooperation between the ChSPU and Sri Lanka, which started with the visit of the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Chuvash Republic in May 2022, has already brought considerable results. Since then the Chuvash State Pedagogical University signed Memoranda of Understanding with three Sri Lankan Universities and opened its centers of Russian language and Culture in two of them. In partnership with the ChSPU, the Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine and the University of Vavuniya have already conducted offline and online Russian language courses. Similar courses have been arranged for the South Eastern University this year.
In addition, the University representatives have established links with two Sri Lankan schools; the Helena Wijayawardhana Balika Vidyalaya, which already teaches Russian language to 650 Sri Lankan students, and the Homagama Mahinda Rajapaksa College, which is now planning to introduce the Russian language to its curriculum.
The Rector of ChSPU Dr. Igor Kozhanov welcoming the audience, underlined that in 2024 the university is planning to continue the implementation of relevant courses, advance training of Russian language teachers, scientific and methodological support and cooperation in the scientific field.
The event was also graced by Deputy Director of the Department of Training, Professional Development and Social Security of Teaching Staff of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation Sergey Antonov. Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Public Relations of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation Anna Goryainova read out a message from Deputy Minister of Education of Russia Denis Gribov extending his gratitude to Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage for her participation in developing cooperation between Russia and Sri Lanka in the field of education.
Deputy Secretary General of the Russian Association of International Cooperation Marina Korosteleva assured of the organization’s strongest support to the activities initiated in the framework of cooperation between the Chuvash State Pedagogical University and its Sri Lankan counterparts.
The event continued to a colourful performance of a team of Sri Lankan students from the Peoples’ Friendship University, who performed a traditional Kandyan dance Gajaga. The University administration showed the Sri Lankan Ambassador some pictures from the arts competition held in the Helena Wijayawardhana Balika Vidyalaya and educational material used by teachers at Yakovlev University to teach Russian to citizens of Sri Lanka to the Sri Lankan Ambassador.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Moscow
16 January 2024
