British Council Principals’ Forum 2016 draws attention to inclusive education for autistic children

T h e e vent wh i ch brought together principals and heads of Sri Lankan schools offering UK examinations (both Cambridge International Examinations and Pearson Edexcel Examinations) in collaboration with the British Council was held on 27 October at the Hilton Colombo Residences for the fourth consecutive year. Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital Head – Medical Check-up Unit Dr. Sudath Damsinghe MBBS MSc MA was the guest speaker of this evening. He spoke of inclusive education for special needs children with an emphasis on the Autism spectrum. Dr. Damsinghe is a key advocate of equality and access for quality education for special needs children, having authored over 40 books and conducting over 100 television programs under the theme of ‘special needs’. British Council Country Director Keith Davies speaking about the guest speech said, “At the British Council we consider Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as integral to everything we do and are happy to extend this philosophy to all our Sri Lankan stakeholders wherever possible. Our EDI policy takes account of the fact that people,

whilst similar in many ways, differ from one another in various ways including (but not exclusively) on the basis of gender, age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, mental capacity, religion and belief, education, economic status, personality, communication style and approaches to work. Understanding, valuing and effectively managing these differences can result in greater participation that can lead to benefits and success at an individual, team, organisational and wider societal level.” The principals’ forum of the British Council is the pioneering gathering of principals and school leaders that are members of the British Councils Partner Schools Global Network (PSGN). The PSGN offer, introduced three years ago, is an exclusive offer for the schools that work with the British Council for delivery of exams of both CIE and Pearson Edexcel. This is an evolving offer for schools, teachers, school leaders and students. So far the British Council has introduced a quality assurance framework for schools, teacher training and leadership training for school leaders, sponsorship of delegates to international conferences and GCSEPods. GCSEPods, aimed primarily at students for self-study, has been very popular in Sri Lanka with a record number of downloads and viewing time. The evening also saw the awarding of the Regional winner of the ‘Our World’ schools video competition 2015, where the winning team was from Alethea International School.

The global schools video competition is an annual feature of the British Council for the schools that deliver UK curriculum and exams across the world. A panel discussion on responsible citizenship and the role of schools was another highlight of the evening. The panel consisted of Sharmila Gunatilleke (Principal, Bishops’ College), Isura Silva (General Manager, S a r vo d aya - F u s i o n ) , Anoka Abeyrathne (Ecosocial entrepreneur, environmentalist and youth activist) and was moderated by Joanne Kotelawela (Consultant, UN Volunteers). The panellists had their own experiences across many sectors and socio-economic structures of Sri Lanka, which enabled them to provide a holistic view on the theme of the discussion. Active Citizens – a British Council global initiative was introduced as part of the PSGN offer, at the end of this panel discussion by Thushara Gunasekara (Manag e r, S o c i e t y ) . Speaking at the event Thushara said, “The Active Citizens program promotes intercultural-dialogue, citizenship education, student roles in social leadership and social development.” The introduction of the Active Citizen’s program is an extension of the British Council’s offer to its PSGN network. For further information on their services please visit www.britishcouncil. lk.