Dr Tharanga Wijetunge (Associate Professor of Mathematics) and Dr Irosha Nawarathne (Associate Professor of Chemistry) of Lyon College, State of Arkansas, USA visited the NSF on 04th October 2022 during their annual visit to Sri Lanka. They were well received by the Chairman and the scientific staff of the International Affairs Division (IAD) and the Science Communication and Outreach Division (SCOD) of the NSF followed by a cordial discussion.
They expressed keen interest to work with the NSF to advance S&T and STEM education and build capacity of under-performing schools in Sri Lanka. It was decided to establish long-term collaboration in this regard, enlisting more expatriates for this purpose. During their stay in Sri Lanka, they would conduct lectures on modern teaching methods and strategies for teachers and deliver motivational and inspirational speeches to school children. These will be arranged by the IAD and SCOD of the NSF jointly with the Department of Education.
Links with Dr Irosha and Dr Thearanga were established through the NSF Global Digital Platform of Sri Lanka expatriate scientists and professionals, which was launched in February, 2022 (https://gdp.nsf.gov.lk).
