Twenty-six students, including a dozen girls, received their graduation certificates from Sri Lankan Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad at the ceremony.
“It’s really a sad occasion since we are leaving an institution where we learned our classroom and moral lessons from our teachers,” said Amna Ashraff, one of the graduating students, who said she plans to become a doctor, “insha-Allah.” Ashraff presented a memento to Mohammed Nazeer, the seniormost teacher of the institution, in appreciation of his services. “If it were not for the teachers we would not have reached this level,” said Amna.
Akmal Sameem, one of the other graduating students, said she thinks it’s the duty of every student to bring honor to the school by advancing his or her education.
“I want to do my bachelor’s in commerce at a Malaysian university,” he said. “I would like to be a finance director in some firm.”
The ambassador offered his own word of advice to the students.
“Discipline, punctuality, respect for elders and appreciation for a strong work ethics by valuing what your parents are going through to make sure you have a good future are basic values paramount to future success,” said Jawad.
A.L.M. Hashim, chairman of the board of management of the school, said the institution — Sri Lanka’s first international school — was established on Sept. 17, 1988 with five teachers and 20 pupils. Since then the numbers have grown to 75 teachers and 850 students.
