The Asian International School (AIS) successfully combines Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School into one harmonious educational system. AIS takes in children from the young age of 2 ½ years and nurtures and guides them through their entire school career right up until they reach their university entrance classes. Every AIS student from the start is therefore moulded academically to be able to enter the university of his or her choice anywhere in the world.

Presently AIS has a history of 22 years and is ideally located in the heart of Colombo in its own building complex and swimming pool. It is currently ranked among the top three international schools in Colombo with the highest number of students sitting the Edexcel Examinations and boasts of excellent examination results.

The AIS main school is located at Thalakotuwa Gardens, Colombo 5 and its Montessori branch is situated at Battaramulla. AIS follows the British system of education where students sit through 'Edexcel' for their public exams. The school has a brilliant past pupil community who have made their mark in various fields in the industry.

The Founder of AIS is Mr.W.P.Perera and Founder Principal is Mrs. Goolbai Gunesekara who accounts for countless years of experience in the world of education while also proudly hailing from a family of educationists. In January 2011 Mrs. Gunasekara was appointed as a Director of the school's Board of Governors and Mrs. Priyanthi Seneviratne was invited to take over as Principal.

Ms. Seneviratne began her professional career at Ladies' College, which is also her alma mater. She counts over 17 years of experience at Ladies' College where she taught A/L English and Greek and Roman Civilization in addition to providing her services in numerous other positions with regard to the school's administration. Later Ms. Seneviratne left the academia and took up the challenges of the corporate sector where she held many leading and distinguished positions which include her 9 year service as the Head of the Sri Lanka Regional Office of The Chartered Institute of Marketing UK.
AIS has been recognized as a Teacher Training Centre by Edexcel, which allows the conducting of exams within the school. The area of sports is also given an important place in the school's curriculum. The school encourages swimming, basketball, netball, badminton, tennis, soccer and rowing. In addition to this music and dance is taught as part of the curriculum up to Grade 8. Also the school clubs and societies further encourage students to specialize in many other areas of interest. The Sunday Education Times spoke to Mrs. Goolbai Gunersekara and Mrs. Priyanthi Seneviratne to find out more about AIS and its values.

"It is the aim of AIS to provide students with a sound moral, and educated mind set within a solid academic foundation while also developing a well balanced and well rounded person. I firmly believe that academic learning must go hand in hand with character development and this is exactly what we achieve at AIS", says Dr. Mrs. Gunasekara. Looking back on 21 years of service as the school's Principal Mrs. Gunersekara said she is very proud to have seen the school grow and progress in leaps and bounds over the years.

Speaking about the dominant role international education will be playing in the future Ms. Seneviratne said the scope for international education will be very much higher in the years to come mainly due to the fact that the Sri Lankan government has become more open to offshore campuses making their presence inthe country's education system. She went on to say that international schools have opened up new avenues for students who prefer to study in English and seek university and higher education possibilities overseas.

"One must also be mindful of the fact that you do not fall prey to the half baked universities that offer foreign qualifications. Also I truly feel that our local syllabi should move away from the high degree of memory work which the student is burdened with. The international syllabus fortunately is more focused on making the student think and analyze better", further stated Mrs. Gunersekara.

"Having taught both the local and international syllabuses it is my personal opinion that our national examinations particularly the A/L papers are set more to test the students on what they do not know rather than test the talents that they already have. However the London examination papers accurately test a student's knowledge", added Mrs. Seneviratne.

Commenting on the strengths of AIS Mrs. Gunersekara said, "AIS is a very Asian School that greatly values traditions and customs. Our motto is 'Modernization but not Westernization'. This is what differentiates us from the rest of the International schools and one of our key strengths. We always take pride in our Asian values, we promote all cultures and religions and teach our students to respect each other. Therefore I feel that international schools will pave the way for harmony among all Sri Lankans due mainly to their multicultural atmosphere."

In conclusion Ms. Seneviratne said, "I am looking forward to working very closely with Mrs. Gunasekara whom I have got to know on a personal as well as professional level for many years. I am very lucky that she is looking over the progress of AIS as Director of the school's Board of Governors, and backed with a highly dedicated teaching and support staff we hope to take AIS to greater heights." - Gayani Perera