Universities must produce creative graduates - Higher Education
Minister
Nihal Jayawardene
KANDY: The main objective of the Higher Education Ministry is
to transform universities into institutions producing graduates with
creative and intellectual capacities to suit the modern technological
world, said Higher Education Minster Prof. Viswa Warnapala.
Prof. Warnapala was addressing a meeting after opening a Centre for
Distance and Continuing Education at the Peradeniya University recently.
The new centre has been set up by amalgamating two existing divisions
namely Division of External Examinations and the Centre for Extension
Education.
Prof. Warnapala said, a common allegation made by society today was
that certain graduates produced by universities had limited knowledge.
As Higher Education Minister, he had to provide answer to this
allegation.
Prof. Warnapala said presently, only about 20,000 students gained
admission to universities annually as internal students.
As a result, nearly 80 per cent of the students who qualified to
enter universities from the results of the GCE Advanced Level
Examination were shut out from universities.
The new centre was opened to enable them gain knowledge through
distance education. Prof. Warnapala said, the Government’s education
policy was aimed to produce graduates capable of accelerating the
country’s economic development effort.
The new Centre for Distance and Continuing Education would be a basis
for investing a knowledgable workforce as a social capital for creating
a healthy, democratic and equatable society in this country.
Prof. Warnapala said, there was a big demand for higher education in
this country today with students spending large sums of money to obtain
foreign education locally or abroad.
The new centre would enable these students to obtain quality
education at a reasonable price locally.
University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake,
Peradeniya University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Harischandra Abeygunawardena
and Director of the Centre for Distance and Continuing Education Prof.
R. Luxshman Wijeyeweera also spoke.
Prof. Warnapala also opened a newly built physical science faculty
complex on this day. |
