Changing context of higher education necessary:

Asia tipped to have most powerful economies

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The Asian region is tipped to have the most powerful economies from 2040 to 2050 recording a higher GDP growth. Therefore, it is necessary to change the context of higher education accordingly, President Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Prof.

Said Irandoust told a ceremony in connection with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the South Asian Institute of Technology and Management (SAITM) and the Asian Institute of Technology.

“Universities must change fast to respond to the changing world trends. They should produce employable youth who wish to enter the job market armed with qualifications that are in demand. We are strongly committed to make a difference by providing high quality education. It will also improve the quality of life by providing academic skills,” he said.

“We need a collective effort to improve the level of higher education to match the current requirements.

It is not only educational programs, but research also should be in place to facilitate this process. AIT has five decades of experience and is engaged in a number of capacity building projects. It has set up a centre for sustainable agriculture to ensure constant application of information technology in the agricultural sector to promote sustainable development,” he said.

“We will focus on professional programs. The partnership between SAITM and AIT will pave the way for a centre of excellence in IT education. With plans to scale up our operations we have an excellent opportunity to expand,” he said.

President SAITM Dr. Neville Fernando said, “We are proud to have entered into an MOA with AIT, a worldwide known education institution.

Our vision is to produce educated men and women of character. Sri Lanka has an unmet demand for higher education.

We expect to fill this void to some extent as there is only a limited number of students who sat the Advanced Level examination to qualify for conventional universities.”

“Our institution has the capacity to cater to 300 to 400 students and the first batch of students has already enrolled for the study programs. We could save a part of the 6.2 million dollars spent annually on foreign education. This institution is a gift to the nation,” he said.

The MOA was signed to develop and implement a collaborative international program between SAITM and AIT Thailand in the form of a four- year collaborative International Bachelors Degree program. It will enable SAITM and AIT to have collaborative B.Eng. Degrees in Information and Communication Technology, Electronic Engineering and Mechatronics, starting September this year.