Sri Lanka is being promoted as an international hub for Buddhist education by the Export Development Board.
Facilities currently exist for foreign students to be boarded in Sri Lanka during their studies.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Suresh de Mel noted that Sri Lanka was the leading English proficient country amongst Buddhist nations. De Mel said addressing a webinar on March 24 organised jointly by the EDB and the Sri Lankan embassy in Vietnam to promote Sri Lankan Buddhist education.
The EDB is working to bring down Japanese students to Sri Lanka with conversations in Tokyo being at a very advanced stage. Sri Lankan ambassador to Vietnam Prasanna Gamage said that Sri Lanka has a high-quality Buddhist education infrastructure. Currently, an estimated 80 monks from Vietnam are studying in Sri Lanka.
Gamage in his conversations with past students in Vietnam notes that they were all greatly appreciative of their time in Sri Lanka. To be eligible to study in Sri Lanka most courses require a grasp of the English language. Gamage noted that institutions were not willing to lower the standard of English so as to maintain standards for local students.
Gamage added that there was a comprehensive compilation of the educational offering of Sri Lanka as an education destination that could be communicated to interested foreign parties.
