HSBC - JCI TOYP 2006 Award for Academic Leadership

The HSBC - JCI TOYP 2006 Awards was held at the Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo recently. Lakshman Kuruppu, Managing Director of Sujatha Vidyalaya was awarded The Outstanding Young Persons Award for Academic Leadership by Junior Chamber International (JCI) whose aim is to "Recognise outstanding individuals whose personal and professional achievements in a chosen field are exemplary, outstanding and nationally beneficial".

It was the best tribute for this young enthusiastic Educationist to be selected to this illustrious list by a distinguished panel of judges. Though the award was meant to be for those between 18 to 40 years this times award was an exception.

This momentous event is a very important milestone in the history of Sujatha Vidyalaya. He has a vision, purpose, determination and a passionate devotion to education. The recent history of Sujatha Vidyalaya is his achievement his late father, Linton Kuruppu was the founder and architect of Sujatha Vidyalaya whom he gratefully mentioned.

The contribution made towards the progress of English is praiseworthy. Sujatha has long been recognised as one of the best, for English and it is further enhanced by enabling the girls to find a place in society towards a hopeful future giving them more refinement. Hence a bold step taken forward is the commencement of the English Stream. Today Sujatha has become a place where young minds seek excellence.

In 1998, the Academy of Professional Studies (Pvt) Ltd - (APS) was formed to offer Professional Diploma and Certificate Courses to teachers, undergraduates and students in the areas of English, Teacher Training, Information and Communication Technology. Later, APS was affiliated to EDEXCEL International of UK, which offers London Tests of English for children and adults, as one of their examination centres in Sri Lanka.

Three years ago, another bold decision was taken to train English Language Teachers and English Medium Teachers by inviting highly reputed Lecturers - Prof. Ms. P. Nagasundaram, (Senior Lecturer and Former Head of the Dept. of English, University of Sri Jayawardenepura) and Dr. Ms. D. W. Palihakkara, (Former Head of Primary Education, Open University) as Curriculum Department to fill the vacuum in the Industry.

Hence the vital role played by Lakshman Kuruppu in field of Education made him a deserving recipient of the HSBC - JCI TOYP Award 2006 for Academic Leadership. This is indeed a great honour not only to Sujatha Vidyalaya but to the Nation.