Assistant Director General welcomes Sri Lankan education initiative

The Assistant Director General of UNESCO in charge of Education welcomed the efforts being made by Sri Lanka to establish a Teacher Development Institute in Sri Lanka which would serve as a hub for the region in catering to national needs while reaching out to countries in the region to support their teacher networks and strengthen their professional capacity.

Meeting the Minister of Education and Representative of Sri Lanka on the UNESCO Executive Board, Hon. Bandula Gunawardhana, Dr. Qian Tang welcomed the proposal as a South-South cooperation initiative and noted that it was an important step towards further collaboration into areas of research and others affiliated to education.

The Assistant Director General also stated that Sri Lanka was the only country with a national action plan for education for peace and sustainable development.

Minister Gunawardhana said he looked to UNESCO to support Sri Lanka in the efforts underway and explained that whilst focusing on the subjects of English, Information Technology, Mathematics and Science at an initial stage, the proposed institute will be geared towards nurturing curriculum and professional development and enhancing quality.

Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka noted the importance to ‘educate the educators’, thereby strengthening the potential of the teaching cadre.

Secretary General of the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO, Mr. Prithi Perera pointed out that the further development of the institute will require the cooperation of the other countries in the South Asian region, as also technical support from UNESCO in the formulation of programmes, materials and best practices, as guidance to the institute and to serve as a bridge to other countries and similar specialized institutes at the global and regional levels.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Paris

11 May 2011