My first encounter with the British Council in 1986 was a visit to the Young Learners section of the library when I was a schoolgirl to borrow ‘Nancy Drew’ series. I remember climbing up the steps to the Young Learners' section.
Much later in 1994, I applied for a scholarship to follow CEELT course as a trainee teacher at the English Teachers’ College Peradeniya. I can frankly say that I grew in my professional career thanks to the relationship with the British Council to become a well-respected popular teacher among students and my colleagues in various schools where I taught.
In my official capacity, I am engaged with the British Council through the Transform Project which is a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Education to improve the quality of delivery in English Education through empowering teacher educators, in-service advisors and teachers with innovative teaching methodology.
The golden opportunity of my entire life was offered to me by the British Council through a competition for a Hornby Scholarship which I won in 2012. It was to study for Masters at Lancaster University in the UK, a top-ranking university in the world for Language Testing and the ideal place for my present work at the Department of Examinations as Assistant Commissioner. The quality education I received at Lancaster from world-renowned academics and the opportunity to be part of such a community of researchers changed me a lot and evolved me into a mature educationist. The links I have built with the academics are still useful even now in numerous ways.
In my official capacity, I am engaged with the British Council through the Transform Project which is a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Education to improve the quality of delivery in English Education through empowering teacher educators, in-service advisors and teachers with innovative teaching methodology.
The British Council is a trendsetter for quality, excellence and innovation. It is an institution which acts as a channel to give locals a taste of changes taking place in the UK and other countries by introducing new developments through various activities and projects. Teachers of English have access to resources, opportunities for CPD, courses like CELTA and workshops with foreign consultants for their professional growth. However, the utilisation of resources and opportunities available at the British Council by the Sri Lankan’s in the education sector seems to be minimal. I would like to invite young professionals in the education sector to join hands with the British Council for professional development and growth to become change agents and innovators of the Education sector in Sri Lanka.
