A group of students from the Mahinda Rajapaksa College of Sri Lanka recently commenced their short-term educational programme at the E. D. Stasova International School Interdom in Russia’s Ivanovo city.
According to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow, this initiative was coordinated by Russia’s Ministry of Education, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia and the Embassy of Russia in Sri Lanka, with the support of the founder of the College Minister Bandula Gunawardhana.
The seven students, who were selected for the scholarships, will be learning the Russian language as well as the history, traditions and culture of Russia together with Russian and other foreign students for the next three months.
At the invitation of the Interdom, on 27 December 2023, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Russia Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage visited the School for the International New Year Celebrations and met with Director of Interdom Olga Matvievskaya, Principal of Mahinda Rajapaksa College Sarath Bandu Gunasekara Dissanayakage, a teacher and a parent who accompanied the students, and the children participating in the programme.
The Embassy delegation was given a briefing on the 90-year-old history of Interdom. They also viewed a New Year Concert performed by students from Russia, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Syria. The Embassy delegation visited the classrooms, in which students undergo daily studies.
In her speech to the audience, Ambassador Liyanage urged the Sri Lankan students to make the best use of this unique opportunity provided to them for the first time in history and expressed hope that the Sri Lankan and Russian Governments would be able to make this programme a tradition.
In the course of the visit to Ivanovo, the Sri Lankan Ambassador met with the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Ivanovo region Yuliya Vasilyeva, and other representatives of Ivanovo Government bodies as well as the business community. The discussion focused on the progress made in the development of relations between Sri Lanka and the Ivanovo region in the spheres of trade, investment, labour, education, etc. (NewsWire)