The Founder’s Message

Japan is one of the best sources of inspiration for any country aspiring to be an advanced and matured society. For instance, blending the best ideas of the past with a vision for the future and going international while preserving our own tradition would be the best way for an island nation like ours. This is the path followed by Japan to achieve modern development. About 150 years ago, Japanese people realized the importance of adopting Western technology. The policy of “Wakon-Yousai” which means ‘Japanese spirit plus Western technology’ enabled them to adopt western technology while keeping Japanese spiritual tradition. Today, we should teach our younger generation how to adopt modern technology for solving our problems while keeping Sri Lanka spiritual tradition alive.

Looking back at the collaborative work between Japan and Sri Lanka in the recent past, people in the North-Western Province would remember the Okinawa Sri Lanka Project for Passing over the Message of Life and Peace to the Future Generations successfully implemented for six continuous years (2011-2016) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Japan and the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka. This project called “Building Bridges to Asia” sent every year 20 Sri Lanka school children to Okinawa and 8 Japanese junior high school students to Sri Lanka. We are happy to see that the students who participated in this project have grown into exemplary characters in higher education, business world and social services.

In 2017, we started a new project to exchange teachers and discuss “the education for the next generation” with the cooperation of Okinawa University and Okinawa Sri Lanka Friendship Association under the sponsorship of the Bank of Ryukyus. This project serves for the benefit of the both countries, building a dynamic partnership between Japan and Sri Lanka. Japanese primary schools, high schools and language and cultural academies and many educationists are very supportive in making this educational endeavor a success. This year’s theme of the project is Mindfulness.

To meet unpredictable challenges and serve the future world, we need to nurture people who are capable of carving out their own future while seeing the world from multiple perspectives. To achieve these goals, students would need to improve their knowledge and skills, build a sound intellectual foundation integrated with compassion and consideration for others as well as for nature.

I sincerely hope that Kibou International College provides good services for people of different backgrounds, achieving maximum diversity, creating collaborative cultures, and contributing to building a peaceful and prosperous future.