Ample scope in Australia - Surani

by Lakmal Welabada

If you are an enterprising woman there are avenues for you to reach the top. Speaking English with a graceful yet a clear accent Surani Punchihewa unfolds her story in brief.

Surani although today is a Australian Migration Consultant, has been a successful high school teacher in the Japanese language.

Surani went to Japan for the first time when she was an A/L student at Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo on a student exchange program with Japan. "This helped me to enter Kyorin University in 1998 to do my Bachelor of Arts in Japanese. Following this I did my Masters in International Relations at the Waseda University in Tokyo," she says.

Surani has been a clever student. She continued her studies with scholarships offered to her for her excellent performance in studies. Just after doing her Masters in Japan she happened to visit Australia to see her only sister who was studying there. But, a chance meeting with a young professional IT Analyst Hemantha Punchihewa enabled her to stay on in Australia and in the end she married him. She sat for a Post Graduate Diploma for teachers in Australia and did the Teacher's Registration to become a qualified teacher.

"I started my career as a Japanese teacher at a Japanese bilingual school in Australia for a short while. After that I joined Wesley College in Melbourne as a co-ordinator of IB (International Baccalaureate) programme. IB is one level higher than A/L.

And those who get through that can enter to any university in the world without sitting for an entrance exam held for the prospective students by each university. The exam depends on the field of study one selects. Subjects like Maths and a language is compulsory.

And there are particular languages listed and recognised internationally such as Japanese, Chines, English literature or German. One has to select one of those. I was attached this programme and heading Japanese language. And it was the highest level that a teacher can reach in Australia," she explains.

She developed an interest in Australian Migration Consultation. Teaching was always her first love, but family commitments prompted Surani to make up her mind to give up teaching.

Surani became an Australian Migration Agent after going through a series of procedures under the Austrian Migration Agents Registration Authorities.

At present in Melbourne alone, more than 55,000 Sri Lankans are permanent residents. "And it must be more than 200,000 all over the Australian continent," she added.

According to Surani there's an abundance of labour in Sri Lanka who have the technical skills and are sought by the Australian government. "The certificate issued by the NDTE (National Diploma in Technical and Electronics) at Moratuwa, AETI in Orugodawatta and German Tech at Moratuwa are highly recognized in Australia.

Those who have these qualifications with one year working experience, and are in the ages between 18 -45 years should get through the IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) exam which is conducted 3-4 times per month by the British Council before applying," she said. Surani further says that anybody with the above qualification can apply to the paper advertisements of relevant job opportunities.

"First they will have to face a phone interview. Once they succeed that they will be called for a skills assessment which would be later crossed checked by the institution through the Australian Embassy. if you qualify, you can immediately get visa to go alone or with your immediate family," she explains.

Surani is methodical and goal oriented. She works according to a plan. "I am however very much into the family, and find time to fulfil their needs as well. My parents are the main driving force behind my success. "Scholarships have helped me a great deal when going up in my higher studies.

I was really lucky in that way. Hence both my husband and I have decided to offer some scholarships - a few to some clever students and other few to some underprivileged students studying in the recognised technical institutions. It will be a helping hand for them to come up in their lives," she concludes.