Award of Scholarships to Join The Overseas School of Colombo
View(s):The Overseas School of Colombo (OSC) is the only school in Sri Lanka that offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, which provides a solid base in all areas of knowledge aimed at developing a student as a whole. It follows an inquiry-based approach in gaining knowledge and its qualification is widely respected by universities all over the world. The International Baccalaureate Diploma often leads to acceptance to competitive universities, offers of financial assistance, and advanced college placement.
OSC awards scholarships to highly capable students who hold Sri Lankan nationality. These scholarships are offered on the basis of past academic results, entrance examinations and a formal interview. English language proficiency is required as the medium of instruction is English. The ideal candidate will exhibit academic excellence, critical thinking ability, and good leadership skills. The school hopes that the scholarship award recipients will contribute to its community through strengthening links to Sri Lankan culture, providing leadership in community service and extra-curricular activities, and raising the overall standard through their academic prowess.
Past scholarship award winners have praised and appreciated the inquiry-based learning and the experience of sharing a common bond with students from all over the world as the student body consists of over 40 different nationalities. These scholarship students have played leading roles in community service projects and shown strong participation in sports competitions amongst similar schools in the South Asian region. The process of awarding scholarships usually begins in the month of February and the awards are made by May.
Last year, OSC scholarships were awarded to four deserving students. They are now following the International Baccalaureate programme in the school. Chathil Rajamanthree is one of those recipients and he says “Being the only IB school in Sri Lanka, I am grateful that OSC has offered me a terrific opportunity to pursue both my academic and personal goals at a world-class institution that’s home to an impressive body of teachers and a benevolent, diverse community. Amidst the friendly community, OSC aims to develop competent students not only in an academic sense, but to build them as capable, leading figures in the future through the IB curriculum”. According to Senaya Fernando who was studying at a leading girls’ school in Colombo, “The OSC scholarship gave me the opportunity to experience a different kind of learning environment. They have a very diverse community where one learns to respect individuals as they are, and at the same time, helps you grow as an individual too. The school adopts a very interactive and effective approach to learning, quite different to what can be seen in other schools in the country, and I really appreciate it since it has led me to understand each subject of the IB curriculum well. Apart from academics, they offer a plethora of extracurricular activities from sports to clubs & societies and community service, which has opened a door for me to explore my interests beyond academics and make friendships and connections that I hope will last a lifetime”.
Thisathma Wijayaratne, another scholarship recipient adds “Receiving a scholarship to study at The Overseas School of Colombo is a huge privilege, being the only IB school in the country. In many aspects, the school has a different dynamic than my former school. This includes the broader education system’s use of modern technology and devices for research, instructional field excursions etc. My former school, where I was a student for 9 years, was a local government school with a more theoretical curriculum”. Sasindu Kaluarachchi states “Compared to my previous school, OSC offers a smaller class size with a lot more student-teacher interaction even outside the classroom, the opportunity to go on field trips, to put into practice what I learn in the classroom, and more importantly, the chance to interact and make friends with a diverse student community from various backgrounds and life experiences”.
The scholarships for the ensuing year will be offered in due course. Further information can be obtained from the Director of Admissions (admissions@osc.lk) of the school.
R.N.A. de Silva
ndesilva@osc.lk
The author is a member of the faculty of The Overseas School of Colombo and a senior examiner for Mathematics at the International Baccalaureate Organization.
HitAd.lk is the best and biggest mobile phone market in Sri Lanka, and we guarantee you will find what you need here from our extensive listing of mobile phones for sale in Sri Lanka. Whether it’s a budget-priced smartphone for communication, or higher end features with advanced connectivity, there are many different options from which to choose from on our site!