EFIC Celebrates 40 years of pioneering Multi-lingual Education in Sri Lanka

École Française Internationale De Colombo (EFIC), also known as the French International School of Colombo celebrated a milestone of 40 years in providing exceptional education opportunities in Sri Lanka recently. The Multi-lingual Education School will be calling for applications to enroll new pupils for the September 2020 intake. EFIC is located in the heart of Colombo on Park road, Colombo 05 in close proximity to Havelock Road, Fife Road and Baseline Road. Established in 1979, EFIC has been a pioneer in French education in Sri Lanka for over 4 decades and is operated under the purview of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and accredited by the French Ministry of Education.

The school is also accredited by the “Agence pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Etranger” (AEFE) which is the Agency for French Education Abroad. AEFE is a strong network of schools and high schools, supervised by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. It hails as the world’s largest educational network with nearly 522 schools in 139 countries under its coordination and support, and shelters 370,000 students providing them education excellence all over the world.

Over the years, EFIC has welcomed students from France, USA, Canada, Switzerland, Greece, Korea, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belgium, Britain, Maldives,  India and Pakistan in addition to the local students and is committed to create a multi-cultural environment where students can grow amid varied cultures, linguistic diversity as well as respect for identities and differences.

‘’Our vision is to create a sound learning environment for our children. The less dense student population allows us to pay personalized attention to each student. Many scientific researches have revealed that a language should be taught at a very young age if that language is to be fully mastered by a child. Growing up in an environment where multiple languages are taught as primary subjects allows students to master both languages and also offers them more avenues for their higher education. Allowing students to learn French and English from kindergarten enables them to learn to speak and think in French and English fluently from a very young age.’’ said  Stéphanie Guillet, the Principal of the French International School of Colombo / Ecole Francaise Internationale de Colombo (EFIC).

EFIC incorporates the EMILE French/English education system from kindergarten, which enables students from various linguistic backgrounds to acquire French and English in a supportive environment. The open system creates a myriad of benefits such as cognitive growth and improves thinking patterns in students.

The French approach to “Content and Language Integrated Learning” (CLIL) is EMILE (Enseignement d’une Matière par l’Intégration d’une Langue Etrangère). It teaches subjects such as science, music, sports and arts in two different languages. An English-speaking teacher and a French speaking teacher will conduct the same lessons side by side, thus complementing each other. This method helps improve the student’s competency levels whilst allowing students to progress in a spirit of openness to the world. EMILE has proven to be a highly successful method of teaching worldwide since 1990 and has been practiced at EFIC since 2015.

EFIC ensures that a student’s English language is fine-tuned as well and recommends that all students from Grade 2 take the Cambridge University certification exams and Diploma of English as a Foreign Language (DEFL). EFIC believes in an innovative teaching approach that respects the French National curriculum whilst allowing the students to embrace the cultural and linguistic diversity of the host country. This approach to education certainly helps in creating open-mindedness among students. The faculty of EFIC comprises of highly skilled and qualified staff, trained under the protocol of the French National Educational Ministry.

Once the students reach grade 6, EFIC enables its students to high school education provided by the CNED (Centre of National Distance Learning) a leading provider of lifelong learning in Europe and in the French speaking countries. Schooling at EFIC can be done until grade 12, which is “la Terminale’. The pursuit of higher education is assisted in the best possible way by laying out the career paths possible for each “bachelier” in France, which comprises of more than 3,500 universities and ‘’Grandes Ecoles’’ which are ranked among the top universities in the world. Add to this, the fact that holding a visa to study in France provides ample opportunities to explore Europe and discover various cultures and traditions.

As a school which firmly believes in collaborative efforts and spreading good humor, EFIC maintains a close relationship with students and their parents and ensures transparency in matters related to school fees and student affairs. Enrolling a child at EFIC means providing that child the opportunity to study at European Standards in Sri Lanka.

More information about EFIC and student enrollment for the September intake can be obtained from – https://www.eficolombo.com/.