MoU signed to develop entrepreneurial skills

Disna Mudalige

The Moratuwa University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) recently, at the University premises with the aim to develop the entrepreneurial skills of University students.

Under the MoU, various curricula development activities, training programs, internships and industry funded research projects would be carried out. The University in collaboration with COYLE would encourage students to form their own companies using their technical expertise and creative business ideas while studying in the University, said Moratuwa University Vice Chancellor Prof Malik Ranasinghe.

He said that incubation facilities would be provided until the company was developed to a certain level.

He stressed the importance of creating graduates who could create job opportunities, rather than seek jobs. “If industry works closely with educational institutes, these institutes could understand the requirements of the industry and revise the curriculum to meet those requirements to create employable graduates. This initiative would increase interaction between industry and University for mutual benefit”, he said.

He also revealed that most research activities carried out in the University system, were not development oriented. “Only a small percentage of the research projects were actually applied in the industry. As a result, financial resources and time of the researchers were wasted. But in many developed and newly industrialized countries, about 70-75 percent of the research projects were applied successfully in the industry”, he added.