Stefan Seiler, Head of International Affairs and Eric Savattero, Head of Trainings at EPF are back from a mission that took place mid-April with ESTP and ESIGELEC in Sri Lanka. Meeting with the French teams of the three schools of the consortium and the Sri Lankan teams of the American International College (AIC) was an opportunity to officialize their partnership by signing the “Transfer Program”.

A consortium of three French schools and one Sri Lankan school

The launching of this unique program is the result of a very concrete alliance between three engineering schools – ESTP, EIGELEC and EPF and a Sri Lankan school – AIC.

The objective of the France Transfer Program is to propose an additional program including on the one hand an educational dimension with two years spent in Sri Lanka and on the other hand a professional dimension with the French trainings. EPF is very proud to present this quality curriculum supported by several institutions such as the French Embassy in Sri Lanka or the French Alliance in Sri Lanka.

This trip to Sri Lanka was an opportunity for the administrative staff of the three schools to meet the AIC teaching staff as well as the AIC students.

EPF was given the opportunity to discover local culture and the infrastructures that will be used by the students of this unique program by visiting the campus in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka and the campus in Kandy. The partners were able to exchange on the implementation of student exchanges from Sri Lanka to France and prepare the teams who will participate in the first promotion year of this international program.

The alliance of the three schools is also an exceptional opportunity for students as they will be able to choose specializations from the array on offer at ESTP, ESIGELEC and EPF, such as Building, Digital, Health, Energy, Aeronautics…etc. This transfer program is not only about sharing knowledge, but also an opportunity for all students to share their Sri Lankan or French culture and open up to the world.

“This program not only contributes to excellence training for the Sri Lankan students but also gives an international dimension to the three schools and enhances France’s and EPF’s influence. This is what we call Internationalization at home” Stefan Seiler, Head of International Affairs at EPF

A selective quality training

The France Transfer Program will start next Start-of-School in Sri Lanka after having selected the participating students.

For two years, they will study basic engineering at AIC in order to complete a solid scientific and technical background; approximately 10 students will then be selected according to their profile to fly off to France and integrate EPF, ESTP or ESIGELEC in Year 3 of a Bachelor degree. They will then have to choose a specialization course which is best in line with their results and field of activity amongst the three schools’ offer.

At EPF, students will be able to choose between 8 majors of the general engineering master course in order to develop their skills and build their professional project. They will also be given the opportunity to apply their knowledge and immerge in a professional environment during their engineering student internship and End-of Year project internship, which is an opportunity that Sri Lankan students do not have in their initial Curriculum.

Throughout their educational curriculum in Sri Lanka and in France, students will be tutored by a team of teachers made up of French language experts and teachers qualified in scientific fields through French as a Foreign Language (FLE) classes. These courses will help them prepare their trip to France but also help them better integrate.

The first Sri Lankan students will be arriving in France in 2021 in order to study in one of the three French Schools of the partnership until graduation. Graduating as a French engineer will make them operational for the French market as well as the Sri Lankan one.

Modification: following the terror attacks of April 21st, EPF shares in the grief of the Sri Lankans and expresses its support to the local teams.