Education

Over 600 graduate at SLIIT 2009 convocation

The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology - SLIIT held their Annual Convocation, for the conferment of Degrees at the Malabe Campus Auditorium recently.

The Chief Guest for the morning session was Head of International Development for the Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences of Sheffield Hallam University, U.K., and Dr. Robert Harris, Executive Vice President of Global Services and President of Asia, Virtusa Corporation, Keith Modder was the Chief Guest for the afternoon session. Pro-Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Science and Engineering of Curtin University of Technology, Australia, Prof. Andris Stelbovics, was the Chief Guest for the evening session.

Graduates at the Convocation

Graduation of the SLIIT Special (Hons) B.Sc. Degree students took place during the morning and early in the afternoon sessions, followed by the graduation of the students of the SLIIT B. Sc. Degree in Information Technology, the Curtin Degree in Information Technology, the Curtin Degree in Computer Systems and Networking, Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology, Information Systems, and Information Management, and the SLIIT M.Sc. Degree in Information Technology, Information Management, and Information Systems programs.

Maheshi Poorna Bharatha, adjudged the overall best performer of the SLIIT Special (Hons) B.Sc. Degree Program was awarded the Prof. S. Karunaratne gold medal and the IFS (Industrial Financial Systems, Research and Development Ltd.) gold medal, due on her achievement, by Prof. S. Karunaratne. E. A. Gobinath won the gold medal presented by Lanka Bell for the best performer in the field of Computer Systems and Networking which as also awarded by Prof. S. Karunaratne.

The Virtusa Excellence Award for the best performer in the field of Information Technology was won by Minoli M. de Silva. The highlight in the evening session was the presentation of the Prof. Lalith Gamage Gold Medal award for the most outstanding student of the Curtin Degree program.

This was presented to K.G.D. Tharindu Madushanka Jayarathne who in addition had also won the Curtin Cash prize. Epic Lanka gave an award and a cash prize to the best performer in Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, which was won by Z. F. Mohommad Hasdee.

"We are proud to see over 600 of our students graduating at this ceremony. It is always gratifying to note that it's nothing but the best that we send forth to the industry. SLIIT has firmly established itself as a provider of world class education.

Equipped with a dynamic and stimulating learning environment, along with state of the art facilities and access to unrivalled academic resources, we strongly believe that our graduates are highly acclaimed in academic circles as well as in the corporate community," said Chairman of SLIIT, Prof. S. Karunaratne.

President / Chief Executive Officer of SLIIT, Prof. Lalith Gamage said, "This is our 7th Convocation to date. From day one we have placed great emphasis on the quality of our education programs and of our graduates. In a highly competitive environment we have achieved the status of being the premier degree awarding Institute in the field of Information Technology in Sri Lanka."

UK's top universities tie up with ANC

ANC-UK, an affiliate of ANC Education Holdings, in Sri Lanka, announced that it has partnered with nineteen best Universities in the United Kingdom to present an exclusive UK university transfer program offering students the opportunity to undertake foundation and first year degree programs with guaranteed progression to selected Northern Consortium universities.

This includes four of the elite Russell Group universities, University of Sheffield, University of Manchester, University of Liverpool and University of Leeds. Others include University of Bradford, University of Salford, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Huddersfield, Liverpool John Moores, Leeds Metropolitan University, Manchester Metropolitan, University of Bristol, Aston University, University of Sussex, University of Birmingham, University of Kent, Queen Mary University of London, Kingston University, and Portsmouth University.

"We are delighted that the prime of UK education is a part of us. ANC came into existence six years ago with a vision of a future filled with a vibrant, dynamic generation of young citizens. Our mission is to guide and encourage learning minds so that they may not only dream, but have every opportunity to realize those dreams" said CEO/Executive Director of ANC Education Holdings, Dr. Punarjeeva Karunanayake.

ANC-UK a BOI approved establishment maintains university standards in all aspects of education, premises, facilities, operational practices, curricula, professors and UK trained faculty leaders offering a UK university ambience in Colombo.

The partner universities collectively monitor the academic content and delivery of programs to ensure they meet high quality expertise required of all UK Universities. Associate Director of International Relations from the University of Sheffield, Stephen Parkin, announced the first ever Sheffield University Open Day will be held in Sri Lanka on February 28 at ANC College, Colombo 3.

The first intake was on September 2008 which will be finishing in July 2009, while the next intake is scheduled for March-April 2009. Students will be able to enter the program after O/Levels or A/Levels. ANC is especially recognized as a UK Trusted Partner for visa purposes the British High Commission which smoothen the application process of students.

Australian boost for rural education

Education at more than 600 Sri Lankan schools received an enormous boost with the Australian Government's signing of Rs 405 million support.

The High Commissioner for Australia, Kathy Klugman, on behalf of the Australian Government signed Memoranda of Understanding with Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Smith Abeysinghe, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and with Country Representative, Philippe Duamelle, on behalf of UNICEF, for Australian grant funding of Rs 405 million (A$ 5.7 million) to be utilized over three and half years for the Basic Education Support Program (BESP) in Sri Lanka.

The BESP, a new partnership between the Ministry of Education, AusAID and UNICEF will assist 600 to 800 rural schools and more than 250,000 children, including those who are marginalised, vulnerable and living with disabilities in less developed areas, in Moneragala, Badulla, Ampara, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Nuwara Eliya districts through the Child Friendly School (CFS) initiative.

In addition to improving access and quality of education in the target areas, the CFS initiative helps to promote social cohesion and inclusiveness between communities from different ethnic, religion and language backgrounds. "Education is a cornerstone for development everywhere," said the High Commissioner for Australia, Kathy Klugman.

Total Australian development assistance to Sri Lanka in the 2008/2009 financial year is estimated at A$27 million. Priority areas of assistance include basic education, improved natural resource management, human resource development (scholarships), improved livelihoods, and humanitarian assistance to assist civilians displaced and otherwise affected by conflict in northern Sri Lanka.