German Ambassador opens new facilities at STEPS Institute in Jaffna

German Ambassador Dr. Juergen Morhard declared open a new building at the Skills through English for Public Servants (STEPS) Institute in Jaffna. The STEPS initiative is a three-way collaboration between Germany, Australia and Sri Lanka, to strengthen good governance, development and the use of English as a link language.

The new facility houses a resource centre, a classroom and an administrative office that will streamline and enhance course delivery. The resource centre will help trainees to improve their autonomous learning skills and offer online placements tests. The new administrative office also is an important addition to the institute as it will help to provide the necessary back-up required to run the program successfully.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Morhard explained that “Effective and competent governance is essential at any level, be it national, provincial or local government. Every public servant has the responsibility to ensure they carry out their work in a transparent, competent, client-oriented and resource-efficient manner. Therefore, skills training and HR development are not a onetime event, but a career-long obligation.”

Since its inception, the STEPS program has trained 3,600 public servants in the North and East, with 1,650 of them receiving training at the STEPS Institute. With the new building the organisation has the capacity to train 800 public servants every year.