It was a moment of celebration at the Royal College auditorium on March 5, 2009, which saw the installation of Sri Lanka's first Gavel Club at a school and the awards ceremony for the 2nd and 3rd batches of the Communication and Leadership Skills Programme sponsored by the Serendib Toastmasters Club.

Delivering the welcome speech, Mr.Sunil De Silva, the President of the Serendib Toastmasters Club noted that it was a significant occasion as the 1st Gavel Club at school in Sri Lanka was launched for the benefit of the students and added that it was a proud sight to see both batches conducting the sessions with confidence in a language other than their mother tongue.

The highlight of this event was the installation of the Gavel Club which signaled a new beginning, allowing these students to spread their knowledge to a large spectrum of students in the school. This Gavel Club will be instrumental in promoting Leadership and Communication Skills at Royal College.
Mr.A.Madurapperuma, treasurer of the Royal College UNESCO Club meanwhile noted that it was encouraging to see the Communication and Leadership Programme reach an important milestone with the awards ceremony of the 2nd and 3rd batches which he attributed to the encouragement and support provided by the Principal.

Demonstrative club meetings were staged on March 2 and 5 respectively and consisted of three different sessions namely 'Round Robin', 'Table Topics' and "Prepared Speeches". The students who displayed exceptional communication and leadership skills kept the audience spellbound and clearly displayed their ability to speak in public with maturity and confidence. Their hard work and dedication were ample proof that they were ready to face challenges by being exemplary leaders and role models.

Mr. Upali Gunasekara, the Principal of Royal College while addressing the gathering, appreciated the outstanding performance of the participants and extended his heartfelt gratitude to the officials of UNESCO Sri Lanka, RCUC , the sponsors and the two teachers in-charge Mrs. Disna Ranjani and Mrs. Harsha Wijesekara for their untiring efforts to bring about a noticeable change in the participants.

The Director General of UNESCO Sri Lanka, Mr. Preethi Perera praised the efforts taken to expose students to education beyond the school book and stressed that leadership was about thinking positively and being positive.

Meanwhile, Mr. Prasanna Chandith, the Deputy Director General of UNESCO, Sri Lanka appreciated the students' performance and thanked the stakeholders for directing the students to be benefited from this Programme. At the end of both ceremonies, the Serendib Toastmasters Club awarded the students with certificates recognizing their achievements in the presence of the stake holders, parents and several other students.

The Communication and Leadership Skills Program is conducted by the Serendib Toastmasters Club in collaboration with the Royal College UNESCO Club. The 2nd and 3rd batches were sponsored by Peoples Bank while Wijeya Newspapers Ltd was the media sponsor. -Shabnam Farook