British Council Principals Forum 2014 brings educators in the private sector together

Thursday, 9 October 2014 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The British Council Principals Forum was held on Wednesday, 1 October at Hilton Residences in Colombo. The program brought together principals from schools from across Sri Lanka that conduct UK examinations and qualifications in collaboration with the British Council. The event comprised of a panel discussion focussed on creating discourse around the topic of ‘After O levels: A levels or professional qualifications – what is best for students?’

The event presented an opportunity for stakeholders related to this field to come together with exam board representatives, namely Cambridge International Examinations and Pearson Edexcel, and members of the exam administration teams at the British Council to contrast the various advantages and disadvantages of each path. The panel comprised Malith Kumarasinghe (Principal of Lyceum International, Panadura), Ravi Edirisinghe – (Lecturer), Rohan Pandithakorralage (Director/Chief Human Resource Officer of Aitken Spence Group) and Charlie Shearer (Director of Studies/Deputy Head of Senior School of Elizabeth Moir). The panel discussion was moderated by Eranda Ginige, Head of Partnerships and Innovation for British Council Sri Lanka.

Speaking at the event, Country Director for British Council Sri Lanka, Keith Davies welcomed guests and commented on the role of the British Council in facilitating access to internationally recognised UK qualifications for Sri Lankan students. The event was also attended by Steve Adams (Director – Examinations for the British Council in South Asia) and he stated: “In selecting the UK curriculum, you chose an educational system that has an ethos of quality and self-discovery with an international outlook.” He added: “Security and compliance in examinations underpins everything that we do, and engenders trust and ensures that every candidate has a fair chance to do his or her best.” This is reflected through a process of candidate verification, compliance in exam paper storage, regular training for invigilators and audits to ensure that these standards are maintained. The event was also an opportunity to showcase the benefits of the British Council Global Schools Exam Project. As a part of an on-going effort to support the work of its partner schools, the British Council aims to improve the benefits provided to those seeking and supporting UK qualifications.

Harriet Gardner, Country Examinations Manager for the British Council, during her presentation introduced the schools exam offer as part of this initiative. Commenting on it, she stated: “We constantly ask what we can do better. That is why we started the Global Schools Exam Project. This project offers a range of support options for our exam candidates, parents, teachers and schools. We look forward to rolling this out in Sri Lanka over this academic year and getting feedback from everyone involved.” The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries, and builds trust between them worldwide. The Council has been working in Sri Lanka since 1949, offering a wide range of services and activities across the island and engage people through our work in the areas of English, arts, education and society. It also conducts a range of examinations including Cambridge International Examinations, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge English, professional qualifications, IELTS and Aptis. For further details, please visit www.britishcouncil.lk.