Construction related education needs regulation

[Emerging - Entrepreneurs]

Harshini Perera

Education gets a considerable place in the economy. It is regarded as an investment in any economic condition of a country. An entrepreneur stepping into the education industry may sometimes need to create the trade while providing education programs. Colombo School of Construction Technology (CSCT) Campus CEO Ben Guneratne has shouldered this difficult task with resolute to achieve this in the future. He was interviewed for the Emerging Entrepreneurs column for this week.

Excerpts of the interview.

Q: How did you come up with your enterprise?

A: We started the company in 2008 and CSCT Campus was started a year later. We started awarding Edexcel courses in construction related areas. We are only focusing on construction related studies. We have recognized the huge demand for these courses in Sri Lanka.

We are looking at giving a quality education for those who are willing to make a career in the construction industry.

The industry is booming gradually after the war. The Moratuwa University has been the only institute in Sri Lanka which awards a BSc degree in quantity surveying.

We have also started awarding BSc Hons degree in quantity surveying from the Salford University in UK. We are prepared to educate 120 students a year for this degree program at our campus and will begin from the July intake this year.

Compared to other areas of education such as IT or Business, a student with a HND qualification in Quantity Surveying can demand a higher salary.

There are multiple job opportunities available in Middle Eastern countries for quantity surveying. Sri Lanka is well-known in that region for producing quality quantity surveyors.

Q: What were the challenges you faced?

A: There was a difficulty for us to access capital when we were setting up in Sri Lanka. Banks are reluctant to give loans and it was a challenge to us.

There were so many regulations we had to abide by and it took time. This I would say is one of the hurdles I had to achieve while starting the business. At the moment competition is a challenge to us.

Quantity surveying is not a well-known subject in Sri Lanka compared to the other courses in the market.

Apart from conducting courses, we need to market the trade as well.

We have planned to have promotional activities at school level in introducing the subject and it’s prospective. We need to promote it among students as one of the largest income generating professions.

Q: What are the strengths of the company?

A: Our company is backed by professionals in this arena. Many other board members are also top professionals in the construction industry.

All our lecturers are mainly from the Moratuwa University.

Q: How do you manage the company?

A: Before starting this business venture, I had my own construction company. I was in Australia and also had a chain of service stations there. After my graduation in 2002, I started the service stations. In 2005, I decided to come back and started the construction company.

The construction industry had a slump earlier but it is now booming along with many constructions happening in Colombo and Hambantota.

There will definitely be a big demand for quantity surveyors and construction mangers. In another two to three years we have to be geared to cater to the demand.

Many of the large construction companies are involved with us and it gives us the opportunity to find work placement for our students as well as training placement.

Q: How did you supply with capital initially?

A: We have a board of investors and we funded money from that. Initially, it was a very low investment and later we continued to invest money.

Q: What are your aspirations?

A: My mother-in-law, Prof. Chitra Weddikkara was instrumental in setting up this profession in Sri Lanka. She wanted to bring the industry to a different level and also run a business as a result of which CSCT Campus was set up.

We have designed affordable degree programs and Higher National Diploma programs for students. There are many students coming from different parts of the country.

We have customized the fee to make it affordable for students.

We try to offer some scholarships for students while awarding the BSc Hons degree.

I had an idea to provide quality education in this arena.

Q: What are the strategies you adopt to enhance employee efficiency?

A: There are 12 employees in our company as full time employees. We have three full time lecturers and the rest work on a part time basis.

We don’t maintain strict guidelines. We run in a friendly environment. We are flexible with their working hours but we ensure that they accomplish their duties to the fullest.

We allow them to accomplish their work on task basis.

We respect their suggestions to improve company operations. We have already implemented some of their suggestions.

Q: What is your goal in business?

A: We need to improve the business and raise our standard in Sri Lanka. Most of the quantity surveyors who graduated from the Moratuwa University are doing well in countries such as Kuwait. Once you mention a quantity surveyor they unintentionally think it is a Sri Lankan. So, we need to keep up the tradition. We try our best to keep to that standard in line with the Government plans to increase remittances from services.

Q: What is your future plan?

A: Our plan is to expand the course portfolio and we are looking at conducting more degrees. Currently there are 80 students registered with us and the first batch will be conferred their degrees in June this year. Apart from quantity surveying we conduct different short courses and industry specific courses for the staff of leading construction companies.

We need to increase the number of foreign students to the campus. We have already enroled two students from Pakistan and three Maldivian students.

Q: What is the support you get from your family members?

A: My wife is also engaged in business as a course coordinator in the campus. She handles the academic related work and running of the school while I am engaged in planning, management and financial matters of the company.

Q: What is the support you expect from the Government?

A: Education in the construction industry is not fully regulated yet. We would like the Government and other organizations to regulate the market. It should be transparent to people. It will make them easy to choose the right program.