Elizabeth Moir Tenduf-La,
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
is a British educationist in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. She founded the
Colombo International School
Colombo International School (CIS) is a private co-educational school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1982 by Elizabeth Moir and employs an English-medium curriculum.
In 1998 the school was expanded by the new Chairman of the Board of Di ...
,
British School in Colombo
The British School in Colombo (BSC) is an international school in Borella, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
History
The British School in Colombo was founded by British educator Elizabeth Moir in 1994. She had previously founded Colombo Internat ...
and the
Elizabeth Moir School
Elizabeth Moir School is a co-educational, international day school, located on two campuses in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which welcomes children of all nationalities aged between 2-18. It is the only international school in Sri Lanka to be owned and r ...
.
Education
Elizabeth Moir read
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where she captained the Oxford University Women’s Tennis team which beat
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
16 to 1 in 1961. She stayed on at Oxford to complete the
Diploma in Education.
Career
Soon after, she joined the
Diocesan Girls’ School in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
where she established the A Level Mathematics Department. After four years in Asia, Moir returned to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
where she worked as an
IBM systems analyst in the City of London.
In 1982, she came to Sri Lanka, with her husband, Kesang Tenduf-La, and three children, and set up the
Colombo International School
Colombo International School (CIS) is a private co-educational school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1982 by Elizabeth Moir and employs an English-medium curriculum.
In 1998 the school was expanded by the new Chairman of the Board of Di ...
. Using the British curriculum and offering London O and A Level examinations, its main clientele was Sri Lankan parents who would otherwise have sent their children overseas to be educated.
In 1990, Moir was asked by
President Premadasa to run a multimedia English language programme on
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
to give the rural people an equal opportunity to learn the English language that their counterparts in the towns enjoyed. She invited
Barbara Goldsmith
Barbara Goldsmith (May 18, 1931 – June 26, 2016) was an American author, journalist, and philanthropist. She received critical and popular acclaim for her best-selling books, essays, articles, and her philanthropic work. She was awarded four ...
, a former Head of
BBC English, to work with her. Her team bought the English language programme ''Follow Me'' from the BBC and used this with introductions in
Sinhala and
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
on the state radio and television at prime time. They had 80 language centres across the country from
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...
in the North to Matara in the South, and held written and spoken English examinations set by the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
.
She then moved on to set up the British School in Colombo in 1994.
Mrs Moir started the
Elizabeth Moir School
Elizabeth Moir School is a co-educational, international day school, located on two campuses in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which welcomes children of all nationalities aged between 2-18. It is the only international school in Sri Lanka to be owned and r ...
in 1996.
Honors
In June 2014 Mrs Elizabeth Moir Tenduf-La was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for her services to British Education and the teaching of English in Sri Lanka. This award was presented to her at Windsor Castle in July 2015 by Her Majesty the Queen.
Notes
This article was copied fro
under an
Open Government License
The Open Government Licence is a copyright licence for Crown copyright works published by the UK government. Other UK public sector bodies may apply it to their publications. It was developed and is maintained by The National Archives. It is co ...
, compatible with CC3.0 BY
References
External links
Elizabeth Moir School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moir, Elizabeth
Sri Lankan educational theorists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Alumni of the University of Oxford
People from Shimla
People educated at St Mary's School, Calne
Indian women educational theorists