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British Council and CBB celebrate 15 years of teacher training project

Published

5 years ago

2020/10/11

The British Council celebrated the long- running CBB English Language Teacher Training Project at a ceremony at the Ministry of Education recently.

The project, which has been running since 2005, draws to a close this year. It grew out of six weekend workshops around the country and developed into the annual delivery of English language teacher training to approximately 200 English language teachers nationwide.

More than 2,000 teachers have been trained through this project impacting on over 310,000 pupils. The course is a distance teacher training program with study sessions run by the trainers at the 31 RESCs (Regional English Support Centres) across the country leading up to the University of Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test.

Speakers at the event included Professor K. Kapila C. K. Perera, Secretary to the Minister of Education, Ms Roshanie Moraes, CBB President, British High Commissioner, Sarah Hulton and Ms. Louise Cowcher, Director Education and English, British Council.

The project was not able to have its annual awards ceremony because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Instead the Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test and British Council teacher training certificates were given to the teachers at their RESCs. A collage of photographs taken during these smaller ceremonies were displayed at the event. The RESC mentors attended were given certificates for their work on the project.

The publication, A Celebration of the CBB Teacher Training Project: 2005-2020 – Case Studies from across the country by the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) and the British Council, was launched at the event. The project’s legacy is the cadre of trainers and teachers it created who then impacted on hundreds of thousands of pupils. This publication is a collection of their personal stories.

Their stories show children becoming more confident in their use of English and becoming more motivated to use the language. Teachers also cited the increase in their pupil marks in end of term tests and in O and A levels. The case studies clearly illustrated the move from teacher to student centred classrooms and a corresponding increase in teacher and student confidence.

The event also showcased this year’s addition to the project in the form of an employability poster competition. Teachers on the project worked with their classes to produce a poster on a topic connected to employability. These posters were shortlisted by the RESCs, then by the British Council, and the finalists were selected by members of the CBB committee. The winning teachers whose classes submitted the successful posters received their awards. The posters were on display at the event and also included in the case study publication.

Roshanie J. Moraes, President, CBB, said “this was CBB’s contribution to upskilling the future workforce of Sri Lanka in the English Language and we are extremely proud to have positively impacted a large number of teachers and students through this in the last 15 years. We hope the teachers and the mentors take this program forward and engage in continuous development and continue to serve our society”.

Mark Prothero, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives, the principal sponsor, emphasized the importance of the project, saying, “The importance of developing English literacy skills is a highly-topical and necessary national debate. It is important for the learning community, in particular the teachers, to foster a generation of students who can use the language as a base in their future careers. HSBC has been the principal sponsor of this project since 2006 and we are very proud of what we have achieved with the program.”

Louise Cowcher, Director Education and English of the British Council said, “This has been a key project in supporting young people develop their language skills, which is vital for enhancing their employability.

“Over the lifespan of the project 2,352 teachers have developed their professional skills to internationally benchmarked standards with the benefits passed on to approximately 310,400 secondary students. This is indeed an achievement to celebrate with CBB and the Ministry of Education!”

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PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand

Published

16 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

The Colombo Central Bus Stand, which has a history of over six decades and had remained without a proper maintenance for many years, has now been renovated under the current government’s development programme and vested to the public. Following that, the Prime Minister undertook an inspection tour of the newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand.

Originally constructed in 1964, the bus stand was refurbished with modern facilities to meet current needs and was officially reopened to the public on April 8. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide passengers with a higher-quality and more comfortable transportation service.

During the renovation process, special attention has been given to the comfort and safety of women, which was commended by the Prime Minister. In particular, a modern rest area designed to ensure privacy for nursing mothers travelling from distant areas received special praise.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the newly introduced passenger seat reservation system and information services established to assist commuters. In addition, the modern surveillance unit and other security measures installed within the premises to ensure passenger safety were also inspected.

During the visit, the Prime Minister engaged in conversations with passengers at the bus stand and inquired about their views on the newly renovated facilities and the quality of transport services.

It was emphasized that the government’s objective is to transform public transportation into a safe, technologically advanced service that can be used with convenience by all citizens.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

Latest News

Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

36 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

News

Opposition tells Minister Kumara Jayakody to resign

Published

2 hours ago

2026/04/10

Thilina Walpola

Prof. Peiris

No-faith motion to be taken up today

Former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (9) said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should remove Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody unless the minister stepped down on his own.Prof. Peiris, addressing a press conference called by the Opposition, said that Jayakody couldn’t under any circumstance continue to serve as a minister after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) moved the Colombo High Court against the government member over a previous financial scandal.

Pointing out that Minister Jayakody had been indicted of a corrupt deal struck during the yahapalana regime, Prof. Peiris said it was wrong for the NPP to retain him as a minister, claiming that the offence was not committed during his tenure as a Cabinet minister in the current government.

Prof. Peiris and several other Opposition members dealt with the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Jayakody that would be taken up today (10) with the academic calling the vote an acid test for the NPP. Having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP couldn’t protect Jayakody though he was widely believed to be close to President Dissanayake.

As the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertilizer Company, Jayakody is alleged to have committed the offence of corruption, according to CIABOC.

Jayakody has been accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the State by influencing and exploiting the procurement process.

Following the serving of indictments on 27 March, the judge ordered Jayakody’s release on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court directed that the defendant’s fingerprints be obtained and a formal report be submitted. The case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 6 May.

Prof. Peiris stressed that the CIABOC action against Jayakody is central to the NCM primarily moved over the irregularities ridden coal procurement process launched in 2025 that caused severe disruption to the power generation. Responding to The Island query after the media briefing, Prof Peiris expressed surprise that the JVP/NPP accommodated a person under investigation by the CIABOC. Having taken an utterly irresponsible decision, the JVP/NPP were now playing down the developing issue, prof. Peiris said.

The entire government parliamentary group faced the prospect of having its image tarnished by defending Jayakody, the former lawmaker said.

Prof. Peiris said that they intended to build a campaign around the issues involving the energy minister to expose the government. With yet another electricity tariff hike in the offing due to the growing demand for thermal generation as a result of coal-fired Lakvijaya power plant’s failure to meet the requirement[RA1] , the energy minister and ministry’s performances have to be examined, Prof. Peiris said.The timely release of the Auditor General’s report on controversial coal procurement should compel the government to decide on the energy minister’s fate or be prepared to face the fallout.

By Shamindra Ferdinando