President directs UGC to upgrade university mechanism
Rohan Mathes
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the University Grants
Commission (UGC) to streamline and upgrade the nation's University
mechanism qualitatively, so as to reflect the country's professional
needs.
President Rajapaksa gave these directives when he met a group of UGC
representatives, at a meeting at Temple Trees last Friday.
"The main university degree programmes should be planned, prepared
and programmed following a systematic research and careful study of the
country's requirements and its job-market in mind", the President said.
The incorporation of more job-oriented courses, the introduction of
'Nursing and Health-Care', Information Technology (IT) based degrees,
international-level sports activities, into the main university
curriculae and other administrative matters, had come up for discussion
at the meeting.
Pointing out the paramount importance of managing the massive
investment allocated for the uplift of the country's established
universities, from the annual Budget profitably, President Rajapaksa
also underlined the necessity of a stream-lined and exam-based
enrolement procedure for the universities.
He said that the universities in the North and East which are
encompassed within a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural
environment, should be developed and its student intake too enhanced,
based on the concept of 'unity in diversity', within them.
The UGC had pointed out here that there were around 600 resident
students in the Jaffna Campus, a marked increase this year.
They had also pointed out that there had been a noteworthy
improvement in the quality of education and the environment in the
Eastern University.
The UGC had further informed the President that they would establish
better links with the universities of the SAARC nations in the future,
to enhance and upgrade the quality of education in our universities. The
Higher Education Minister Prof. Vishva Warnapala, UGC Chairman Gamini
Samaranayake and other representatives of the UGC participated at the
meeting. |