Northwood Global College marked its inception recently. The chief guests for this occasion were renowned veteran artist Kala Keerthi Sybil Wettasinghe and Sikamani R I T Alles, founder of D S Senanayake College and Chairmen and founder of Gateway College.
This day also marked the foundation laying of the purpose-built school at Battaramulla. This occasion was graced by the Mayor of Kaduwela, G H Buddadhasa. Ramana and Amrita Prasad from BVM Global, the Board of Governors of the school and their families, and special corporate invitees also participated in the events.
The schools’ motto is ‘inspire values’ and it already has many students enrolled. Going with the concept of cultivating an education that focuses not only on knowledge but also on traditional Sri Lankan values, the school employs the standard white uniform used in national/government schools island wide.
Classes comprise of pre-school to grade six for this year and will move up to grade seven and upwards gradually starting from 2014. Equipped with classrooms that can seat up to about 30 students, the school curriculum incorporates both British and Local curriculums with a special period dedicated towards robotics from Grade five and above. Furthermore, the school has an auditorium, a garden and a clay hut that is built to encourage concepts of team work, taking care of others and other core values of humanity.
“We, the board of directors believe that every child has the right to quality education,” said Kushan Kodituwakku, Managing Director – Orange Electric. “Our school is for students from all walks of life and we are only concerned about giving a quality education utilising the best new methods available in teaching.”
Probably the first school that is backed by the corporate sector, Northwood Global College is unique when compared to other schools due to several reasons. They are being guided by people that integrate many different ideas and concepts from the corporate sector and combining old values with modern concepts.
“This will be a home away from home,” said Riyaz Sangani, Managing Director – Vidullanka. “We have brought many leading figures from the corporate sector to give inspiring leadership and we are focusing on promoting a new concept when it comes to education.”
The school promotes inquiry-based learning, making way for developing analytical thinking as well as practical skills among the students from a very young age. Teachers encourage interactive learning focusing on creating an individual who is confident, independent and at the same time humble.
“We will focus on values and habits that are important in cultivating a good citizen,” said Madu Ratnayake, Senior Vice President/GM – Virtusa. “Also Northwood Global College is not only about teaching, but will also promote and incorporate important life skills into the school curriculum.”
The school will teach students in English and Sinhala/Tamil medium, focusing on creating a bilingual individual while through its vast and diverse curriculum it will help students to discover more job opportunities especially in the corporate sector. Parents can communicate with the school through email as well.
“The school will practice global education management systems,” said Ramana Prasad, Managing Trustee – BVM Global. “Furthermore, this will be taken as an opportunity to redefine the education in Sri Lanka as we have done much research about bringing the necessary changes that are needed.”
Striving to be different from a traditional school, Northwood Global College has notable plans in store for the future, such as opening a pre-school, implementing exchange programmes for both students and teachers, and also giving the students the ability to experience a corporate working environment from a very early setting.
