Internationally recognised examination excellence

For 150 years University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) has helped children develop lifelong learning skills that enable them to compete in an increasingly competitive global market place. Having worked with international schools, Ministries of Education and leading educationalists across the world, CIE delivers relevant, stimulating courses that encourage children to ask questions and solve problems, rather than just recall information.

CIE is the world’s largest provider of international qualifications for 14-19-year-olds. Parents in Sri Lanka can be assured that CIE qualifications are of the highest quality and reputation. CIE continually assesses its course portfolio and develops new material and qualifications in collaborative consultation with students, teachers, parents and the wider educational community to ensure that our curriculums reflect the latest thinking and issues.

Cambridge O’Levels – developing skills for life
Sri Lankan students undertaking Cambridge O’Level courses benefit from 50 years of experience in designing and delivering flexible programmes of study, which are regularly updated to keep pace with changing events, trends, educational developments and new technologies.

The Cambridge O’Level curriculum is renowned for not only developing the recall of knowledge, but also for placing emphasis on problem solving, decision making, evaluation and investigative skills that better prepare students for the challenges they will face in higher education and employment.

Designed for 14-16-year-olds (although available to all) Cambridge O’Levels provide a solid foundation for academic progression, based on broad and balanced study. Over 50 courses are available, including Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, Mathematics and IT.

One of the main benefits is that students have flexibility in choosing subjects that truly inspire and interest them, subjects as diverse as Commerce and Environmental Management are available for those students drawn towards a business perspective, whilst all the main subjects and a wide range of language qualifications are also on offer.

Flexible, modern, fit for purpose qualification
Sri Lankan parents should note that Cambridge qualifications are recognised by top universities around the world and that Cambridge qualifications provide a gold standard for students seeking to continue their education. They are designed for international students and CIE works closely with different countries to ensure courses are sensitive to those countries’ needs. Teaching is localised for Sri Lanka to ensure that students benefit from subject content that is regionally relevant, as well as globally applicable. CIE recognises that student’s first language may not be English and this is acknowledged throughout the examination process. All Cambridge examinations in Sri Lanka are administered by the British Council. CIE has worked closely with the British Council in a number of countries around the world for many years.

One of the key questions from parents is how much time is invested in ensuring teachers are fully supported so that the learning experience for children is fun, interactive, dynamic and ultimately rewarding. CIE is committed to continuing to work with the top international schools around the world to create a supportive network for teachers to share experiences on best teaching practice and new ideas. Regular events are held to train the trainers, with educational specialists proving insight and strategies that teachers can employ in the classroom to ensure the route to O’Level examination is a successful one.

Local culture – international perspective
Each year CIE has over 610,000 entries for International O’Levels, from countries around the world. Interest in Cambridge qualifications in Sri Lanka continues to rise year on year and CIE is dedicated to increasing resources in the country as demand continues to grow. We are proud to be working with top schools including the Lyceum International School, Wycherly International School and Alethea International School and we expect to continue to announce relationships with new schools in the coming months.

For more information about the benefits of a Cambridge education, please contact CIE’s representative in Sri Lanka, Nirmali Hettiarachchi on 0777 684 044 or attend one of our special education seminars for parents either at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo on June 4 or at Browns Beach Hotel, Negombo on June 2.

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Win the world at APIIT

  Study for a British Degree at APIIT and be globally competitive                                                    

The Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), a leading higher education institute in Sri Lanka, invites school leavers to join prestigious British Degree programmes commencing in June 2008; this offers a rare opportunity for Sri Lankan students to experience the richness of British higher education in an atmosphere imbibed with Sri Lankan warmth and caring.

Graduating in early 20s with an internationally recognised degree may sound like a farfetched dream for most Sri Lankan students; but this shouldn’t be the case any longer with APIIT-Sri Lanka providing opportunities for enrolment in a British degree programme immediately after O/L or A/L. APIIT-Sri Lanka’s aim is to offer internationally accredited higher education programmes in Colombo and produce young graduates who are globally competitive and immediately employable.

APIIT offers a wide range of degree programmes in Business and Computing fields providing many study options to select from based on one’s career goal. To enable students to fast track their higher studies after O/L, APIIT offers a pre-university eight-month Foundation Programme that provides a pathway for entry to the degree programmes. Students who have completed London or local A/Ls can join the diploma/degree programmes directly and students who are awaiting results may join pending results.

The degree programmes are conducted over a period of three years enabling students to graduate in early 20s with a prestigious British degree in Business Management or Computing/IT. These degrees are awarded by world-renowned Staffordshire University.

Staffordshire University is an internationally accredited higher educational institute in the UK with state-of-the-art facilities to support the teaching/learning process. A comprehensive quality assurance framework ensures that APIIT offers similar facilities and similar learning experiences to students studying at its City Campus in Colombo. Accordingly, all programmes at APIIT are quality assured by Staffordshire University and students studying in Colombo are awarded with the same internal degree certificate awarded to students studying in the UK.

Studying for a British degree in the UK is costly and most parents may not be able to afford the high tuition fees and living costs. Advantageously, APIIT offers the chance to read for a British degree right here in Sri Lanka at a fraction of the cost of studying overseas.

APIIT is one of the leading private higher educational institutes in the island and has been able to prove its competence and commitment to quality in higher education over the years. APIIT has received many accolades both nationally and internationally. For example, APIIT-Sri Lanka is the only private higher educational institute to win a Grant under the ‘Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education’ project funded by the World Bank.
APIIT-Sri Lanka can boast of high quality teaching and support facilities too. Almost 80% of students passing the degree with a first or a second class upper division provides ample proof for this claim. Employability of APIIT graduates is yet another indicator. Catering to the increasing demand for graduates with Business and IT skills, APIIT has been able to produce dynamic graduates with up-to-date knowledge and skills who secure lucrative employment both in Sri Lanka and abroad immediately after completing their degree awards.

The June Intake will enrol 100 students for Business and IT degrees. This is your opportunity to secure a prestigious British degree and be globally competitive. Why waste time after your O/L or A/L? Visit the APIIT City Campus at No.388, Union Place, Colombo 2 for more information on study programmes and to reserve your place. APIIT City Campus is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Information may also be obtained by telephone from Kanchana, Senani, or Jayan on 2675060 or from the APIIT website: www.apiit.edu.lk.

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Best web tools for college students

Nowadays, access to internet is spreading very fast. With information, literally at your fingertips, you don’t need to go hunting for information everywhere. Also, gone are the days of writing on stacks and stacks of paper and carrying them everywhere. There are better, far more effective and efficient ways of doing things.

Following is a list of web tools that help students when conducting research. They are handy because they either a) help get things done or b) educate/inform about things students need to know.

1) Writely - The “web word processor.” Allows you to save your work and documents on the Web, and access them from anywhere.
2) Soundslides - Storytelling management made easy. Allows you to easily merge sound and audio to create and audio slideshow presentations. Requires a small registration fee.
3) Bluedot.Us – A great social bookmarking/networking service. With the click of a button, you can “Dot” a website/page that you find interesting and instantly share it with all of your friends. Perfect for groups of students who have similar interests – It’s an easy way to share information.
4) eFax – Need to receive a fax? Do it for free over e-mail! eFax will hook you up with a phone number that you can give to people… your faxes will show up in your inbox.
5) PDF Online – Create PDFs for free. I’ve used this on numerous occasions in conjunctions with e-fax. It’s great when you don’t have a scanner handy. Just e-fax yourself the document and then convert it into a pdf.
6) Google Calendar – Add events and activities to this simple and easy to use calendar. You can also share your calendar with other people, have multiple calendars, and have events e-mailed to you or sent to your cell phone.
7) Google Spreadsheets – I’ve only just started using this, but it seems like a great way to create and save spreadsheets online.
8) Bloglines – A way to search for and subscribe to news feeds and blogs. Not so new anymore, but I use it every day.
9) Technorati – They claim to track 51.3 million blogs. You can search for pretty much any type of blog you are looking for. However, I have heard there are other (perhaps better) options to Technorati these days.
10) mynoteIT – mynoteIT is a free service built for students to help keep school information organized and have it easily accessable whenever, wherever.

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IFP – ideal springboard to ‘university life’

  Alternative entry route to degree programmes from Singapore Informatics                                                                     

The Singapore Informatics Computer Institute, City Campus is a reputed private education organisation in Sri Lanka. It is a fully owned subsidiary of the ‘Informatics Education Ltd.’ of Singapore. The Singapore Informatics, City Campus in Sri Lanka currently offers several degree programmes in streams such as Computing, Engineering, Business and Information Technology and Business Administration. The general qualification to enter into the first year of these degree programmes is a pass in GCE / Advanced Level.

Still there are a lot of students who do not wish to follow the advanced level certification, or who want to complete the degree programme within a shorter period of time after their Ordinary Level examinations. The ‘Informatics Academy’ has introduced the ‘International Foundation Programme’ (IFP) to provide an alternative pathway to the students who wish to enter the degree programmes.

The IFP is considered as a valid entry qualification for the first year of all the degree programmes conducted by the ‘Singapore Informatics – City Campus.’ This programme serves as an ideal springboard for ‘University Life.’

The programme contains all the necessary ingredients to prepare the students for the intellectual university studies and the university life. It is designed to develop the student’s mathematical and IT skills, enhance the student’s problem solving and critical thinking skills and also to equip the student with learning strategies. In addition the programme offers several different levels of English proficiency studies, to nurture the student’s English knowledge into the level demanded by the tertiary education. The programme actually is a performance enhancer for the student’s non academic endeavours as well as their university studies. In the academic side the programme will enable the student to appreciate the intellectual demands of studying at the tertiary level, whereas the acquired soft skills will be an additional advantage in any career they wish to take up.

The programme can be completed within a time period of eight to 12 months, depending on the student’s time schedule and the proficiency in the English language. So, for a student who gains direct entry after Ordinary Levels, is in a fast track to complete a degree programme of their choice.

In conclusion the International Foundation Programme [IFP] can be an ideal springboard for a large number of students who are eager to enter into the university as soon as possible and gain a recognised degree from a highly reputed university.

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