My experience at The Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute (BIDTI)
View(s):Me being an enthusiast in international affairs, member of the legal fraternity and a coffee lover, the moment I got to know about the study programme ‘Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs’, without a second thought I decided, I should give it a try because of the three reasons mentioned above. The first two being straight forward reasons, the latter will be explained in a while.
Before the study programme began, I had to meet the Director General of BIDTI, who gave me a quick overview into the course which increased the positive vibes which I had for the course.
The course commenced in May 2019. During my first lecture, I just looked around me to see whom I’m going to spend my next 12 months with. I saw such a diversity from a teenage girl to an elderly gentleman in his late 60s. Then around 6.30 pm they gave us a break and this is the break which connects to the part of me being a coffee lover. During the break they provided us with coffee and the tradition continued till the course ended. During the break, I was having conversations rather chats with the other students. Some of them were from the Universities and others from various fields, such as medical, legal, administrative, tri forces and some running their own business.
After the break the lecture resumed and the floor was opened for questions. Not to my surprise, there were many brilliant questions posed by the students. Yet another point which I was impressed with was the fact that the interactive discussions taking place in the middle of the lectures which was a good opportunity for the students to share their views.
All the lectures were very interesting and informative with plenty of international examples. There were several well-structured models which covered from the basic essence of Diplomacy to complicated legal concepts and they were highly informative. The course was well organized and even during the COVID-19 pandemic the lectures continued through online platforms.
In addition to the exams which were conducted after each module there were several assignments as well which were preparing ourselves for the real world. My favourite assignment was handling an interview assuming myself as a politician and answering questions posed by an interviewer.
The beauty of this diploma is that, it has not only sharpened our academic knowledge but also sharpened our perspectives towards how we view a problem. As perspectives are subjective my take away point from this entire course is that humanity prevails over one’s nationality, one’s religion and one’s ethnic group.
Then, came the convocation, as a cherry in the cake my name was announced that I obtained a distinction and the highest marks in our batch. I was honoured to receive the award and the certificate from the Prime Minister and Minster of Foreign Affairs amidst other dignitaries. It was also a great pleasure in delivering the joint-vote of thanks at the convocation.
I would like to thank the Director General, all lecturers, and the staff of the BIDTI who helped us in various ways.
There are plenty of practical benefits for every student from the course, starting from understanding international news with a way better understanding to finding jobs in the Diplomacy path. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in this area.
Shezan Mahboob
Recipient of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Award of the XXIII course
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