WHY NOT SRI LANKA? සිංහල

Starter Kit. Idea 442 of 500. Cluster 23

Sinhala and Tamil lessons by video for the children of Sri Lankans abroad, taught from home by graduate women and paid in pounds, dollars and francs

Back to the idea

Written for this site as a starting point, not from the book. Rules and fees change: ask the bodies named below before you spend money.

The mechanism, from the book

The single largest unused asset in the country is sitting at home. Much of what keeps it there (childcare, safe transport, working hours) can be sold as a service, and the industries that would employ it can be built.

The first step

Ask ten families you know abroad whether their children would take a weekly Sinhala or Tamil lesson by video, and at what price. Find two graduate teachers who can teach from home with a steady connection and a quiet room. Run a few free trial lessons, then agree a monthly fee paid in advance from abroad. The proof is five families paying for a second month.

Who pays first
A parent in London or Melbourne whose child understands the grandparents a little less every year, and who will pay to change that.
What leaves today
A graduate's teaching skill sits unused at home; lessons paid from abroad bring foreign money in and keep the language alive in the next generation.

Ask first

  • Inland Revenue Department. Ask how a teacher earning fees from families abroad should register and declare that income.

Check before you spend

Confirm how payments from abroad will reach the teacher, a written agreement with each family, and the parents' consent before any lesson is recorded.

Find out these three numbers

  1. What monthly fee will families abroad pay for weekly lessons?
  2. Which hours suit families in Britain, Australia and Canada?
  3. How many pupils can one teacher take each week?

A comparison from the book

Sri Lankans abroad. Chapter Two

"Around 1.5 million of us abroad"

The customers already exist, and many of them want their children to keep the language.

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

WITH500BUSINESS IDEASTO STARTTOMORROW

From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.