Weerathungage Harshani Weerathunga has bagged Best School Leadership Award

Weerathungage Harshani Weerathunga has bagged Best School Leadership Award

• August 17, 2021

I am Harshani Weerathunga who was born and raised in the beautiful Island in the Indian  Ocean, Sri Lanka, a country known for its biodiversity, traditional culture and richness in  History. I am 33 years of age and I studied at Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy till my G.C.E.  A/L Examination. I have been a very active forward pupil since my childhood. After my A/L,  I completed my bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from University of East London,  United Kingdom. Once I came back to Sri Lanka, I completed a Diploma in Early Childhood  Development, AMI Method.  

My ambition was to become a doctor, but I always had a passion for teaching since my  childhood, because I have been motivated to become a teacher with my family background which is mostly aligned with the educational field. After completing the Early Childhood  Development Diploma in 2013, I started the Green Angels International Pre-School in 2013  as the first step to uplift the quality Pre-school education of the children of this country.  Thereafter, in 2014, the Green Angels International School (GAIS) which welcomes students  with the motive of providing access to high quality affordable education was established  to nurture a large number of children from preschool to Advanced Level. GAIS is an  internationally recognized school and Educational Centre, giving chances to many students  to fulfill their dreams of getting a college degree. GAIS shows a rapid progression within  a short-term period, and has two branches in Gampola and Gelioya respectively. 

I began GAIS with a Day Care Centre, preschool and grade 01 to A/L. At present, GAIS is  an expanded education provider which offers international pre-schools, day care centers,  two main international schools ranging from primary to Advanced Level, an elocution  institute for conducting examinations, an institute for the performing arts, courses related  to higher education and vocational training courses. GAIS is the pioneer of the opening of an indoor swimming pool to motivate the aquatic education of the students in the Gampola  area.  

As a Principal I have successfully created a conducive and pleasant learning environment  for my students and introduced joyful and creative learning methods, skill-based projects  for greater learner engagement and better learning outcomes. With the current Covid-19  pandemic, we have reached out to our students through homeschooling making links to  their context in terms of content and language as children are given first priority.  

An Island-wide art competition was held on the occasion of Poson Poya, 2021 for the  mental well-being of children who spend time at home due to COVID-19 epidemic and  prizes were given to the most popular and best drawings in each age category to encourage  them. During this pandemic to keep children active and for their happiness, GAIS has  organized several events for the children Island-wide such as Fathers’ Day programme,  Vesak Poya Celebration, Environmental day programme etc. 

Language Hub (LH), Sri Lanka is one of my recent initiatives to uplift English literacy level  of the Island-wide students in Sri Lanka. Currently Language Hub is having a variety of  English courses to different age groups and providing customized English courses  according to the requirements. 

I have a worldwide network under an educational platform to conduct courses starting  from Pre-schools to Master degrees with collaboration of Local and international  universities and professionals. GAIS has a wide range of courses specifically designed to fill  the gap of the job market in near future. Under GAIS, students can follow School level  courses, Certificate courses, Diploma, Degree and Master level courses. Recently, I have started to offer the AMI Diploma which is approved by the Tertiary & Vocational Education  Commission with the aim of producing trained preschool teachers. 

I have formed a number of collaborations with local and international parties to provide a  quality education to our students. Few of those collaborations are British Online School,  London School of Executive Education (LSEE), 123 Uni, Spinnaker International, British  Council and Accreditation Service for International schools Colleges and universities (ASIC)  to provide standard online courses to Sri Lankan students. Through all of these  collaborations, GAIS together with LH offer a wide range of English courses from pre school to GCE A/L students, English courses for employees, housewives etc., Higher  Educational Courses (After O/L, A/L), and Professional Teaching courses. GAIS offers an  unforgettable teacher training experience with foreign teachers. To fulfill that, GAIS started  offering the TEFL Diploma Level 5 which is awarded by Gates House Awards as part of an  online course series and also offers free teacher training with UK lecturers along with  this programme. 

From time to time, I have been actively involved in various ways for social wellbeing through  our school. I have worked with children in Sri Lanka's rural communities on different  projects. I am working to educate them on subjects such as English and Mathematics. I  am currently offering free counseling programmes, workshops, and some other educational  services to help to enhance the quality of pre-schools in rural areas. I collaborated with  the Little Heart Project and participated in a fundraising campaign for heart surgeries  involving students from my school. We were able to raise funds to do heart surgeries on  39 children and give them a chance to live.  

As a women empowerment project, a programme is being carried out to transform girls  who have successfully completed the GCE O/L and A/L examinations into professional  teachers. Further, I have already established numerous programmes to allow children  around Sri Lanka to learn with international teachers. Recently, I initiated a “Skill Upgrading Programme for Salon Management” in collaboration with SEDEF Campus. 

Other than the Directorship/ Principal of the GAIS, I am holding the Directorships of South  Asian Entrepreneurs Development Faculty (SEDEF), Language Hub, Sri Lanka and Rural  Enterprise Network (REN) Sri Lanka and working as an external Consultant for the Business 

Development Centre (Pvt) Ltd and Inovint Web Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. And also, I am a  Professional Brain Development Trainer, HOMAC Abacus UK; Professional Elocution Trainer,  Calsda Academy, Sri Lanka; Authorized examiner and qualified as course coordinator, ICAS  examinations, South Australian University; Professional Trainer, E Learning Concepts for  Mathematics and Japan and Member of International School Association, Sri Lanka. 

I have several future goals to achieve in my career path. One of them is strengthening the  branch network at GAIS by expanding our branch network in high population areas not  only in the central province, but also in other districts in Sri Lanka. My main task is to expand student  volume from preschool to A/L’s which will be easy to adapt for a higher educational  background using our network. Apart from academic activities, I hope to start an academy  to train quality preschool and school teachers in Sri Lanka. Through SEDEF Campus, I look  forward to guiding the dropouts from the GCE O/L and A/L examinations in Sri Lanka to  choose suitable pathways for pursuing international higher education and international  employment. Simultaneously, I hope to establish a career guidance unit with the intention  of providing free counselling for all the required students regarding higher education and  academic activities with SEDEF Campus. At present, only traditional vocational training  courses are available for students who have dropped-out from the GCE O/L examination  in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is expected to initiate several innovative specialized courses which are widely upcoming in the world by targeting those students in  collaboration with several international universities and incorporating technology. By  organizing this, I hope to give them the strength they need to win life and show them the  right path without breaking down mentally due to failing the GCE O/L. I am working on  to uplift the standard and quality of the courses which we have, by applying for different  international standards in obtaining quality certification from different organizations to  prove that we possess a good educational platform.  

In the year 2018, GAIS was awarded as “Best Pre School in International School Awards” which was held in Dubai. It is truly a privilege and an honor to be recognized as an awardee  in this International Forum as Women Icon Powered by “Times Women '' and for bagging  me the award title “Women Educational Leader” 2021. This award will encourage and  benefit my future career path. And I have been giving my heartfelt gratitude to Women  Icon Powered by Times Women and World Women Council (WWC) to their due recognition given to my success in my journey by assessing in multiple aspects. And I would like to  thank everyone who was there for me in this wonderful journey.