The city of Kursk currently houses about 400 Sri Lankan students mostly studying at Kursk State Medical University (KSMU) and Kursk State University. Sri Lanka's Honorary Consul in Kursk is Mr. Mohamed Chahine who is the Director of the International Department at KSMU. The Honorary Consul and his team organized a multipurpose trip to the City Kursk for the Embassy Delegation in order to strengthen the ties on political, trade, tourism, culture, education and sport matters, and to explore other areas for further cooperation.
On 31st Augusts Ambassador Prof. M.D. Lamawansa and Rector of KSMU Prof. V.A. Lazarenko participated in the traditional cutting of the ribbon to declare the green field, the new sport complex facility of the KSM University open. Ambassador and the Rector were invited to take a first throw-in of the ball for a friendly soccer game to be played on the newly opened facility.
In the interview given to the local TV Channels Ambassador Prof. M.D. Lamawansa underlined that "Sport is taken very seriously in Sri Lanka. Physical Education is included in school curricular. The Ambassador added that The Ministry of Education has got a separate section to promote sport and also there is a separate Ministry in the country for Youth Affairs and Sports. At the level of higher education provision of sports facilities are given high priority in University accreditation.
On September 1, 2020 the Ambassador and the Embassy delegation toured the Kursk State Medical University. The visit started with the opening ceremony of the Anatomical Theater of KSMU. In his speech Ambassador underscored that facilities provided in the theatre are impressive. Ambassador presented his compliments to the Rector of the University Prof. Lazarenko for his respect to the history of the development of the discipline of anatomy and persons behind them. The delegation visited the university simulation center also where students, postgraduates and continuous training participants get their training and achieve accreditation.
The familiarization with the facilities of KSMU was followed by a visit to a recently built Oncological Hospital. The Chief Physician of the Hospital Dr Uglesha Stanoevich briefed the Ambassador with the work of the polyclinic, the medical and surgical building, the X-ray department, operating theater, the intensive care unit and the radio therapy department which is well equipped with modern linear accelerators. The Ambassador made complimentary remarks on the observation he made on patient-centric care provided by the hospital.
The official visit to Kursk was completed by the in-depth discussion with the Rector of Kursk State University on the prospects to expand cooperation. For now 6 students from Sri Lanka are receiving higher education in KSU for Applied Mathematics, Building Construction, International Relations and Human Resources.
