Opportunities to develop Sri Lanka as education hub – High Commissioner of Australia

The plenary, Cricket Driving the Business of the Game We Love, in process.
Pictures by Sudath Malaweera

There are opportunities to develop Sri Lanka as an education hub serving the Indian Ocean region where there is a huge market of potential students, Paul Stephens, High Commissioner of Australia told the Deakin Week Sri Lanka opening launch event held in Colombo on Tuesday.

Stephens said they were ready to move into new areas of cooperation with Sri Lanka and there was great potential to cooperate in climate change and renewable energy. He said Australia has a great deal of assets and capability in solar, wind power and battery storage and many Australian companies were looking to invest in the energy sector in Sri Lanka. He said tourism is one area which is already strong, and there was great potential to grow it even further in both directions. In terms of shipping and logistics, Sri Lanka finds itself on a very comfortable shipping route between the East and West and that was something that should be maximized to the mutual advantage of both counties.

The High Commissioner said the educational relationship between Australia and Sri Lanka is a core pillar of the bilateral partnership. “As far back as the 1950s, Australia provided scholarships to Sri Lankan students under the groundbreaking Columbia Plan, which built a legacy for friendship, cooperation and academic exchange, which continues to this day. And today there are over 30 Australian education providers operating in the Sri Lankan market and they have built a strong reputation for delivering quality curriculum and safe and enjoyable student experiences. Australia is a recognised world leader in international education and one of the most popular destinations for students globally. International students appreciate the education and lifestyle opportunities that Australia provides and global rankings place many of Australia’s universities among the best in the world and eight Australian universities were ranked in the global top 100, ” he opined.

Australia is among the top destinations for Sri Lankan students studying abroad and over 12,000 Sri Lankan students are taking advantage of Australia’s high quality tertiary education and Australian education providers see Sri Lanka as a strong value proposition. Sri Lanka has an educated workforce, resilient population, high levels of English speaking capability and is situated in a strategic location in the Indian Ocean in proximity to other large and growing markets, the High Commissioner said.

Stephens said Sri Lankan students have a strong reputation in Australia and despite some of their cultural and other differences find that they are able to assimilate very well into Australian life. The 170,000 strong Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia helps them to do this, he said. The High Commissioner also acknowledged the strong and vibrant contribution that the diaspora had made to Australia’s multicultural society.

The event followed by the plenary: Cricket driving the business of the game we love by Campbell Jamieson, former General Manager Commercial at the International Cricket Council (ICC).

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