COLOMBO: The Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nihal Ranasinghe and the Director[1]General of the National Institute of Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne presented a plaque of appreciation to Ambassador and Deputy Minister of Public Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea H.E. Lee Sang-hwa, who was in Sri Lanka for an official visit on Feb 20.
The plaque of appreciation was delivered to Deputy Minister Lee Sang-hwa in recognition of the accomplishments achieved in promoting Korea-Sri Lanka education and cultural cooperation.
On this memorable occasion, the Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Santhush Woonjin JEONG was also present.
The recent achievements in education cooperation between the two countries have been noteworthy. Due to the high popularity to learn the Korean language among young Sri Lankans, the government of Sri Lanka adopted the Korean language for advanced level classes from 2021 onwards and Korean language is introduced as a subject among foreign languages for the university entrance examination from this year. In order to support this meaningful initiative, the Korean government provided the necessary resources and tools to strengthen the capacity of Korean language teachers for the past two years.
Learning the Korean language systematically in the formal education system will enhance the employability of Sri Lankans to work in Korea and build bridges for communication. Recently, the “K wave” in Sri Lanka has gained high popularity.
In response to the interest and love shown by Sri Lankans for the Korean culture, the Korean Ministry Foreign Affairs and the Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka sponsored and organised many vibrant cultural events to deepen the friendship between Korea and Sri Lanka. Korean cultural events like the Korean Lantern Festival, Quiz on Korea, World K-pop festival, Korean Ambassador’s Taekwondo Championship, Korean Film Festival, Virtual Tour to Korea and the K-Fiesta provided opportunities for Sri Lankans to appreciate the Korean culture and build mutual understanding.
The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with UNICEF jointly launched the ‘END Violence for children’ global SNS campaign throughout the world including in Sri Lanka with great success, to help protect children from all forms of violence. With these accomplishments as momentum, the bilateral ties especially in education and cultural cooperation are expected to widen and deepen further in the coming years. As a responsible and reliable friend, Korea will always stand together with Sri Lanka.
