Journalists awarded at convocation ceremony

Mr. Kumar Nadesan (Right) Chairman of the SLPI addressing the gathering at the convocation held at the BMICH.

The Sri Lanka Press Institute held its Convocation Ceremony to award certificates to 132 journalists for the successful completion of the ‘English for Journalists’ course. The event was held on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). Jim Russo, Director, Press, Cultural and Academic Affairs of the U.S. Embassy was the Chief Guest at the ceremony.   

The Sri Lanka Press Institute launched the ‘English for Journalists’ program in 2015 with the aim of supporting journalists to enhance communication, reading and writing skills to suit modern journalism. They received the support of the United States Embassy during this programme. Classes were conducted in all nine provinces of the country.   

The project was designed to benefit journalists working for the Sinhala and Tamil media and working at regional level. As many as 197 journalists were selected for the course from nine provinces. This English language program was designed by Dinali Fernando, Head of the Department of English of the University of Kelaniya. The course was specifically designing to support journalistic needs with the necessary linguistic tools that would enable them to develop their skills.   

During the three-month course, the curriculum, designed by language experts, was aimed at providing the students with the best possible practical knowledge. The course was conducted at regional level for the convenience of the journalists from the outstations. Skilled experienced teachers were selected from those localities to conduct classes.   

This was an 18-month project managed by the Sri Lanka Press Institute and was funded by the US Embassy.