Mrs. I Sivaratnam
Consultant
Mrs. I. Sivaratnam (B.Sc.; Dip. in Education) is a highly qualified
and experienced educationist who held senior positions in the Sri
Lankan education system as a high school teacher, principal and
educational administrator. A distinguished alumnus of Uduvil College,
Jaffna, she took her B.Sc. degree in the natural sciences from the
University Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and the Post Graduate Diploma in
Education from the Open University of Sri Lanka. She served as an
Instructor in Botany for three years at Peradeniya before joining
the teaching faculty of St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota,
one of the best high schools for boys in Sri Lanka.
After holding the position of Assistant Teacher for a few years
Mrs. Sivaratnam assumed the Section Headship of the Tamil Stream
of St. Anthony’s College and developed it to be one of the
best of its kind in Sri Lankan high schools. In recognition of her
service she was appointed the Deputy Principal of the School. She
further moved up in her career when she passed the Sri Lanka Education
Service Examination and was appointed Assistant Director for Science
Education in the Department of Education. In 2001 she assumed duties
as Deputy Director of Education in charge of the Tamil Medium Schools
in the Kandy Zone and later was promoted Additional Zonal Director
of Education, a position that she held until her retirement in 2008.
Mrs. Sivaratnam rendered yeoman service to the advancement of Tamil
medium education in the Kandy Zone of the central province. In particular
she took a great interest in developing educational facilities to
the underserved Tamil plantation community, especially in science
education.
She was an educational innovator for the underprivileged children.
She tirelessly organized and conducted workshops in Science and
Mathematics for students from remote areas who attended under-resourced
schools and did not have personal resources to obtain the assistance
of private tutors. She also believed that education has to go beyond
book learning. She organized leadership training programmes, cultural
activities and extra-curricular competitions for the benefit of
children from under-privileged communities.
Her contribution to Sri Lanka’s school education in general
and especially to Tamil education and the education of children
from under-privileged communities brought her recognition from her
peers and many honors from her professional colleagues and the community.
St. Anthony’s Convent bestowed on her the schools highest
honour “Aasiriya Sironmani.” The Provincial Ministry
of Tamil Education (Central Province) and the Centre for Ethnic
Relations and Nation Building, Sri Lanka and the well-known Tamil
Publishing House Thinakural Publications Ltd honoured her for the
services that she rendered over a career lasting nearly years.
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