Rubber Institute inaugurates first graduateship programme in rubber science

NEW PROGRAMME: The Plastic and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka, inaugurated the graduateship programme in rubber science and technology on July 7.

PRISL has accorded high priority to conducting relevant educational and professional courses with the aim of satisfying industry wide human resource needs while setting high performance standards for the professionals in the Sri Lankan rubber industry.

"It is essential to re-position the Sri Lankan rubber industry in a different quadrant in the competitiveness arena by adopting best practices and upgrading critical factors of production including Human Resources at all levels. One of the major problems faced by the polymer industry is to train and retain suitably qualified employees to function in critical technocratic and management positions," the President of PRISL Ananda Caldera said at the launch of the programme.

The aim of the course is to provide students with an overall general knowledge in rubber machinery, industrial safety, effect on inner and outer environments, human resource development, information technology and general management which is an important criterion in assessing the ability and performance of a competent employee in the industry.

The graduateship course has been formulated by an eminent panel of specialists selected from the industry (rubber manufacturing), academic institutions (Universities of Moratuwa and Sri J'Pura) and research organisations (RRISL, ITI) and expects to meet industry HRD needs.

The PRISL plans to setup a dedicated library for Graduateship students as they require extensive referencing through reading and via internet and other means. The field of Polymer Technology changes rapidly and new knowledge is disseminated through a variety of publications and periodicals.

These publications are rare, very expensive and students are unable to own and maintain personal libraries and personal computers.

The Plastic and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka is a founding member of the Sri Lanka Society of Rubber Industry (SRI), which is the national association of polymer industry professionals established in 1960 as the local section of the Institute of the Rubber Industry in London.

The membership of the institute comprises a wide range of professionals employed at technical, supervisory and higher levels in rubber and plastics industries in Sri Lanka.