A comprehensive secondary educational experience at the heart of Colombo

CSA, Principal Shaleeka Jayalath with the first two students who enrolled at CSA

The staff and students during the opening ceremony of the school

By Sarah Hannan

A Cambridge associate school offering the Cambridge International curriculum, The Colombo School of Arts (CSA) opened its academic space for education on 19 January. Offering a comprehensive educational experience to young people who are 14 years of age and above, the school operates between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the week. Providing a bit of a background on CSA, the Principal Shaleeka Jayalath explained how the school came to be.

“The Colombo School of Arts is an international co-educational school affiliated to the Imperial Institute of Higher Education (IIHE), Sri Lanka’s only institute which is directly associated with the prestigious University of Wales (UK) and the University of Salford. IIHE pioneers on tertiary education and they were in the process of back integrating the secondary education system with the Cambridge International Level curriculums,” Jayalath noted.

Their target age group is 14 and above which means they accommodate students from grade 9 up to Advance Level Examinations (Cambridge International). With a holistic approach that promotes each student’s learning, personal growth and development; each student is nurtured as uniquely talented individuals to achieve the best of their abilities in terms of their intellectual, creative, physical and emotional capabilities.

The school offers a wide range of subjects excluding Biology, Chemistry and Physics hence the name Colombo School of Arts. Classes are conducted during the morning hours to prepare students for the subjects of their choice. Following a lunch break, students participate in either sports or extra-curricular activities each day, prior to joining their respective study groups, in which students benefit from peer-to-peer coaching and have the opportunity to gain remedial help from a teacher to complete their assignments. 

Extra-curricular activities on offer to students consist of art, drama, debating and public speaking, martial arts, discussions and activities involving global and local issues, CSR projects and participation in sports and societies. 

A curriculum to suit today’s needs

When asked about how CSA’s curriculum stands apart from the regular academic curriculum at other international schools in the country; Jayalath went on to elaborate, “We offer the regular subjects for AS and A/Level examinations; we offer subjects such as Sociology, Travel and Tourism, Psychology, Art and Design amounting up to at least 15 subjects to choose from. Though Speech and Drama is not a Cambridge Level subject we are backed by qualified tutors who can coach a student to sit for examinations at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).”

With the affiliation with IIHE the school can offer students a real career path since they have partnered up with the University of Salford (UK) as well as the University of Wales (UK). Students therefore can select to continue with four degree programs that are on offer; B.Sc. Honours in Accounting and Finance, B.Sc. Honours in Business and IT, B.Sc. Honours in Business Management and B.Sc. Honours in Tourism Management. The advantage of being a student at CSA is that a student can get direct admission to any one of these four degree programs.

Student centred teaching system

CSA promises that every student gets the personal attention needed and the highly qualified and experienced academics ensure that each student receives the required guidance and extra coaching as and when required. “With the handful of students that we have at present we are able to provide the much needed personal attention to each student. Going forward we are still looking at keeping the student count at a manageable level thus being able to continue with the current teaching methodology,” Jayalath opined.

Though the school has only completed one school term for the year the response from the parents too have been very positive. Jayalath further stated that the parents are very impressed with the teaching methodology used at the school and in return it has improved their children’s learning skills. CSA is focused on offering its students the best of every world. Though the school is categorised as an international school the code of ethics that are followed at the institution is always closer to a government school. According to Jayalath the only reason that CSA is an international school is because they have the opportunity to offer an international curriculum to the students.

Catering to a wider reach

In today’s tertiary education level the Degree programs on offer have evolved into many specialty fields; Jayalath reckons that following a very traditional curriculum that only focuses on the main stream degrees are not doing the children a favour, “In our local curriculums the schools still offer the traditional mix of subjects which are graded as Science, Maths, Commerce and Arts. This method needs to change and it is our duty to offer a wider variety of subjects in their secondary level education which will define their career paths. This way the student will have the opportunity to even switch subjects at an early stage and not have to waste their time in sitting for different Degree programs in the tertiary level.”

With the mix of subjects that are on offer at CSA students can choose the subjects that are relevant to their major. While at the Ordinary Level the core curricular subjects are on offer; when the students reach to their AS and A/L examinations they have the opportunity to study the subjects that would contribute towards their Degree programs. Bringing out a very popular field of work in the country – tourism, Jayalath stated that by offering Travel and Tourism as a subject at the AS and A/Ls, students are exposed to the multitude of opportunities in the field. “The subject covers Eco Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Hospitality Management and International Travel. The student gets a flavour of all these areas that are made available in Travel and Tourism, opening up the various avenues for them to shape up their career paths as well as their higher education paths.”

Jayalath is a firm believer on nurturing the students closer to the cultural values and norms of Sri Lanka and says that it is important to instil these practices into a student.” We start the day off with reflections where everyone gets to sit and practice mindfulness, by saying a prayer or grounding their thoughts through any form of religious practice. I believe that it also helps develop their concentration.”

While the students have their pick at the extracurricular activities available, CSA encourages every student to take part in the Art class. Jayalath says that Art helps to tap into an individual’s creativity and can build their confidence.

A student’s voice

At the time of visiting CSA the only student at school was Ishantha Rathnayake and the rest of the students were on study leave as they were getting ready for their AS level examinations. He had got to know about the school through the Principal herself as she also happens to be a family friend of the Rathnayakes. While it was the parents who decided that it is better for Ishantha to continue his secondary education at CSA, he was given the freedom to select the subjects that he wanted to study.

“My initial plan was to become a Pilot and continue studies in that line. However with the recent flight crashes I figured out that it was a high risk job. Business Studies, Economics and Sociology are the subjects that I am following at the present. But I am also looking at studying Business Management and Hospitality Management which in return will allow me to manage our family business and at the same time explore the opportunities in the hospitality sector.”

More information on CSA can be obtained through www.educationcsa.lk.