New Australian envoy attends launch of landmark educational programme

From left: Amila Jayasuriya – Director AustraLanka International Academy (ALIA), Ranmalee Balasooriya – Vice Principal of Ladies’ College, Paul Stephens –Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Jenny Williams – Principal of Firbank Grammar School, Wendy Grant – Director of International Operations of Firbank Grammar, Sunimal Fernando – Chief Operating Officer of Ladies’ College Institute of Professional Studies. 
Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

• Melbourne’s Firbank Grammar School partners with Ladies’ College Colombo to offer VCE in Sri Lanka 

Newly designated Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Paul Stephens marked his first official appearance in his new role at the launch of a landmark partnership between Firbank Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia, and Ladies’ College Institute of Professional Studies in Colombo on August 12 , through which Firbank will support Ladies’ College to provide young men and women the opportunity to obtain the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). 

The High Commissioner’s attendance at the event coincides with the 75th  year of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Australia.

Through this partnership, which is facilitated by administrative support from AustraLanka International Academy, Ladies’ College will allow Sri Lankan students to benefit from Australian education without having to leave the country. Students in the VCE programme at Ladies’ College will share the same experience as students studying the VCE in Melbourne, with access to the same assessments and examinations. 

The launch event, which was also attended by Firbank Grammar School Principal Jenny Williams and Director of International Operations Wendy Grant, alongside Ladies’ College Vice Principal Ranmalee Balasooriya and Ladies’ College Institute of Professional Studies Chief Operating Officer Sunimal Fernando, as well as AustraLanka International Academy Director Amila Jayasuriya, began with the traditional lighting of the oil lamp, before representatives from both schools formally signed the partnership agreement. 

This is the first such partnership of its kind, where an Australian education institution has undertaken a long-term engagement with a local counterpart to consistently maintain and improve educational standards. While teachers will benefit from an evolving and improving curriculum, students gain the advantage of more holistic educational and assessment methods that go far beyond end-of-year exams. 

Speaking about this at the launch event, Firbank Grammar School Director of International Operations 
Wendy Grant explained that Firbank Grammar School wants all its students, domestic and international, to see themselves as part of the global community, “When they set their sights on success, they make a difference not only in their own countries, but across the world. The relationships that students develop internationally, we believe, will assist this, and help build a collaborative, cooperative global village into the future,” she added.