Four students from Sri Lanka appointed Ambassadors for Adelaide, South Australia

Study Adelaide announces winners of Ambassador 2020 programme held for the first time in Sri Lanka

Each student to receive a support package worth AUD $5,000

StudyAdelaide, an agency of the Government of South Australia to promote Adelaide as an international study destination has announced the winners of its Ambassador Programme 2020.

Four winning students from Sri Lanka were announced as Ambassadors at a presentation ceremony held at the Movenpick Hotel, Colombo, recently. The event was attended by officials from the Australian Government and South Australian institutions.

The Student Ambassadors are being awarded an exciting support package worth AUD $ 5000 from StudyAdelaide which includes return ticket up to AUD $1500, gift voucher valued AUD $1000, Professional development session, access to key Adelaide festivals & events, enabling students to soak up the full educational and lifestyle experience of the city. The ambassadors will be encouraged to engage with friends, family and the community to showcase Adelaide’s advantages and what makes it one of the best Australian cities for international students, by sharing their story through posts, videos and blogs.

Over the years, the number of students from Sri Lanka heading to Adelaide for higher studies has been on the rise, with more than 700 students choosing to study there in 2019. Engineering, Computer Science and IT are amongst the most popular courses for Sri Lankan students at universities in Adelaide.

The competition had an enthusiastic response from students right across Sri Lanka with a large number of candidates applying to win the cove ted ‘ S t u dy Adelaide Student Ambassador’ tag for the first time. The four chosen ambassadors for 2020 are Sithy Rabab Ghazali Hussain, Rivindu Witharana, Dinura Widana Pathieanage from Colombo and Samyuktha Pathmanathan from Kandy.

Speaking on the occasion, Karyn Kent, CEO, StudyAdelaide, said, “We are excited with the response to our 2020 Ambassador programme which was introduced in Sri Lanka for the first time. We received more than 1500 high quality applications from across South Asia, and a significant number from Nepal. This made the job of judging very tough indeed.”

“We are excited to welcome our four Ambassadors from Sri Lanka for 2020 and introduce them to our vibrant city life, safe, supportive community and world-class educational institutions.” she added.

Speaking on the win, Dinura Widana Pathieanage, one of the chosen student ambassadors said “I am very excited and honored to be selected as a student ambassador for StudyAdelaide. I am looking forward to experiencing Adelaide first- hand and sharing the unique student culture and vibe of Adelaide with my fellow Sri Lankan students.”

Dinura Widana Pathieanage has enrolled at the University of South Australia to pursue MBA in Brand Management and Advertising.

The SA Ambassadors will be pursuing varied programmes ranging from master’s in engineering, Health Management and Social Work across a range of institutions including Flinders University, The University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, TAFE SA, and the International College of Hotel Management.

Home to Flinders University, The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia, Adelaide is one of the world’s leading education cities, with universities ranking in the top 2 percent worldwide. It’s also the ideal student city in Australia, being up to 15 percent more affordable than Melbourne or Sydney according to The Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Report.