Royal College, Colombo became Sri Lanka's first-ever National School to gain 'PASCH' (Partner School Initiative) status with the inauguration of the state-of-the-art “German Language Training Centre” established in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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| Stefan Weckbach unveiling the
commemorative plaque |
Dr. Stefan Weckbach, Acting ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany officially inaugurated the German Language Training Centre. Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka Director. Richard Lang, Royal College principal Upali Gunasekera, deputy principal Mrs. Lakshmi Attygalle, Ms. Birgitte Wimaladharma, chief co-coordinator of the Partner School Initiative (PASCH) at the Goethe Institut were present in the occasion.
As part of the PASCH programme, five students from Royal College recently participated in Youth Camps in the Sithlaket Himalayas and Yercaud / Tamil Nadu while another five will visit Germany in August this year.
Nearly 100 students from Grades 4 to 7 are currently studying the German language under this programme, while several other senior students have also began studying the German language as a subject for the Advanced Level examination.
Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier launched the "Schools: Partners for the Future". As part of this programme, the network of German schools abroad and schools offering the German Language Certificate has been strengthened and extended. In addition, cooperation between these schools is being expanded to anchor German as a foreign language more firmly in national education systems.
German is the official language in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. As the second most popular language being learnt in the European Union countries, it also ranks among the top 10 languages frequently spoken in the world. German also plays a predominant role as a foreign language in many countries particularly in Central and Eastern Europe apart from the almost 20 million people around the world who learn German. |
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