The closing ceremony of a three-month STEM teacher-training program, organized under Indian grant assistance for schools in Sri Lanka’s plantation regions, was held on 18 October 2024 at the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife, Forest Resources, Water Supply, Plantation, and Community Infrastructure.
The event was graced by H.E. Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, alongside Mrs J.M. Thilaka Jayasundara, Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, as well as senior officials from both the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, along with representatives from the National Institute of Education of Sri Lanka.
The program, initiated at the request of the Sri Lankan government, focused on training teachers in STEM subjects—Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, and Biology—specifically for plantation region schools. It was part of a broader Indian grant assistance of INR 750 million, which was announced last year to commemorate 200 years since the arrival of the Indian-origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka.
A total of 19 specialized Indian teachers arrived in Sri Lanka in July 2024 to conduct the program. After a structured orientation by the National Institute of Education, the teachers were deployed to schools in plantation regions. Over 10 weeks, the training benefited more than 2,000 Sri Lankan teachers across nearly 40 centers located in the Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa, and Western Provinces.
During the closing ceremony, Mrs. Jayasundara highlighted the program’s high utility and productivity, with calls for its continuation in the future. She expressed gratitude to the Government of India for the initiative, and the 19 Indian teacher-trainers were specially honored by the Sri Lankan government for their efforts.
In his address, the High Commissioner of India noted that the successful completion of the teacher-training program further solidified the strong people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka. He emphasized that the program is part of India’s broader development partnership with Sri Lanka, which spans various sectors, including education, health, agriculture, and renewable energy, bringing tangible benefits to Sri Lankan communities.
