Govt to construct hostel for foreign students
Shirajiv Sirimane and M. F. Jabir
Ministry of Higher Education will construct a special hostel to
international standards to house foreign students studying in Sri Lanka
Dr Sunil Jayantha Navaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher
Education at a press conference hosted to announce the official opening
of the Victoria Higher Education (Private) Limited campus in Colombo
said that they are now on the look for a property to construct the
hostel close to Colombo, probably in Battaramulla or Pelawatta.
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Dr Sunil
Navaratne, at the event.
Picture by Samantha Weerasiri |
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A
traditional dance troupe in action at the launching ceremony
of the Victoria Higher Education Campus |
Presently over 20 foreign educational institutes were operating in
Sri Lanka which has attracted many foreign students form the region.
“These students stay in various locations and our aim is to get all
of them under one roof.” He said that as per the Mahinda Chintana Vision
to convert Sri Lanka into the Educational hub in South East Asia,
measures were already underway to attract more foreign educational
institutions into Sri Lanka. “We will even offer these foreign
institutions land on a 99 year lease and provide other attractive tax
holidays,” he disclosed.
“Our aim is to increase the 3,000 strong foreign student base in Sri
Lanka to 10,000 by 2015 and here again we would offer them incentives
which include free online visas,” he said.
Navaratne added that Rs 100 million each would be allocated to
elevate six state universities to world class status with more
incentives to non state universities. He cited SLITT and NIBM as typical
examples for non state universities and said many incentives were on the
cards to open many more non state universities.
Meanwhile the Victoria Higher Education (Private) Limited (VHEL) held
its official opening launch in Colombo. Sponsored by the Board of
Investment (BOI), Victoria Higher Education Campus (VHEC), a Higher
Education Institution, will deliver full internal degree programmes from
the University of Greenwich in London, UK.
The University of Greenwich sets high standards for teaching quality.
It has been ranked first in London for teaching excellence and student
satisfaction. VHEC is privileged to deliver these degree programmes, in
collaboration with the University of Greenwich, to both local and
international student thus helping Sri Lanka to achieve an ambition to
become the education hub of the region.
VHEC owned by EDNET, a Dubai based company in the Edulink Group, will
provide the long term financial stability and backing needed to deliver
best practice in education in Sri Lanka.
The vision of the Victoria Higher Education Campus is to provide high
quality British higher education at foundation, undergraduate and
postgraduate levels, across a range of subjects. VHEC aims to deliver an
excellent experience to students, enabling them to move into stable
employment and contribute to the local economy.
Located centrally in Colombo 3 in refurbished building, VHEC will
attract the finest academics in the Asian region, making it a meeting
point for the greatest of minds in one place.
Additional undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Media and
Communications, Advertising and Marketing Communications, Creative
Digital Media and Finance and Investment will be introduced in 2014.
Dr. Terry Butland, OBE Managing Director, VHEL said for students who
follow these courses can save 75 % of their cost that otherwise a
student had to incur if he travelled to London for the same purpose.
Among the many dignitaries and VIPs who attended the launch were
Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Education, Tim Yeo MP, UK Parliament
and John Rankin, British High Commissioner.
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