Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Qualifications with scope
By Tharangani Perera
Remember those examinations that come twice a year in January and May? The ones where preparation involves squeezing in many facts, figures, data and information during many late or sleepless nights, which you could have spent watching the latest movie or hanging out with friends!

Those exams that bear the names GCSE and GCE, at the mention of which, something out there tugs painfully at several of your heartstrings at a time; a reminder of the amount of work that waits for you on your desk?

As challenging as they are, these exams are one of your tickets to a bright future, and are therefore, an essential part of your life. They should be engaged, using every force and strength that you possess. For those of you who wish to be armed against this adversary brought to you by Edexcel International, UK, the conference held on the September 2, would be of some interest.

“Global Changes in the Changing Education System”, an international conference held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Colombo by Edexcel International, UK was dedicated to share the scope of UK Academic and Vocational Education in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Prominent at the conference was the delegation from Edexcel composed of ten senior Edexcel officials and headed by Mr. Rick Firth, Global Director of Edexcel International, UK. The keynote speakers for the event were Minister for Education of the Republic of the Maldives Zahiya Zareer and Secretary of Education of Sri Lanka Dr. Tara de Mel.

“To meet up with global challenges, we need to prepare ourselves now. It is therefore important to open doors to international educational institutions. Today’s conference is the first such step towards our goal,” said Dr. Tara de Mel, addressing the conference together with Ms. Zareer who stated, “It is an honour for me to welcome such initiatives by the international educational institutions, which will help our students compete in the global market.”

The conference covered an extensive range of topics including local and global educational developments, and information about new support services. Furthermore, the delegates were informed of the most recent and inspiring qualifications offered by Edexcel, and shared a local best practice, providing an important forum for educational institutions to engage and network. This underlines Edexcel’s continued commitment to offer high quality educational qualifications and support to education centres, parents and students in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Nick Sansome, the Regional Director for South Asia of Edexcel International welcomed the delegates to the conference. Introducing Edexcel to the delegates, Mr. Rick Firth said, “Our success is linked to the success of educational institutions.” He further stated, “We have a long-term commitment to Sri Lanka and the the Maldives and we will continue to develop and ensure that we offer the educational institutions high quality qualifications and examinations support.”

Highlights of the conference were the speeches made by the General Manager of Edexcel International Michael Swan on Globalisation and Education in Sri Lanka, Ms. Zareer on Education in the Maldives and Dr. Tara de Mel on the Changing Education System in Sri Lanka. Several seminars were also featured in this conference, to educate the delegates of BTEC in Schools, IGCSE O Levels and Making the Most of Edexcel Partnership.

Formed in 1996 through a merger of the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC), which is a leading provider of vocational qualifications, and the University of London Examinations and Assessment Council (ULEAC), which is one of the major GCSE and GCE examining bodies, Edexcel offers a diverse range of academic and vocational qualifications, prepares course specifications, assesses, examines and provides quality control of qualifications and certifies achievement.

Edexcel qualifications are offered by over 5500 schools, colleges, employers and other places of learning worldwide. Edexcel International operates in 112 countries across the world with the assistance of seven regional offices located in London, Dubai, Colombo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kuala Lampur and Delhi. In Sri Lanka alone, over 30 schools offer GCE A/Levels, GCE O/Levels and IGCSE qualifications. And according to statistics, and compared to the rest of the world, students of Sri Lanka are known to achieve very high results from these examinations.

Edexcel qualifications are internationally recognised and can successfully prepare you for higher education abroad, providing you with greater opportunities to enroll in UK, US and Australian universities. This is why, whether your future ambition is to become an astronaut, an aeronautical engineer or to travel to Switzerland and write novels while looking upon the Alps through your bedroom window, Edexcel can help!

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