Education

Brandix pioneers post-graduate research

With grant to Moratuwa University:

The Brandix Group has come forward to support the Moratuwa University with a research grant, becoming the first corporate entity to contribute to an intensified drive by the University to establish a research-oriented culture as a key to achieving world class academic excellence.

Valued at Rs 5 million, the grant presented recently to the University by Brandix will supplement the Senate Research Fund of the University, which finances PhD related research. It will be directed to the University’s Engineering Faculty.

The research grant will be used to conduct research on chosen areas of significance to the country’s top apparel exporter, with focus on aspects such as improvement of productivity and efficiency and minimization of waste in production processes.

Brandix Group Chief People Officer (CPO) Ishan Dantanarayana presented the sponsorship cheque to Moratuwa University Vice Chancellor Professor Malik Ranasinghe.

“Lack of funds for research especially with respect to PhDs in Sri Lanka has led to the brain drain, with many graduates leaving the country for foreign universities for post-graduate studies,” Professor Malik Ranasinghe said. “Graduates of the Moratuwa University are comparable with those produced by the best universities in the world, but they are constrained by lack of funds to conduct research. Therefore this contribution by Brandix is both timely and vital,” he said.

“Establishing a research-oriented and research-conducive culture is essential to bringing our universities to the forefront globally,” he said. “This cannot be achieved through high academic standards alone,” he said.

“Apart from providing an opportunity for graduates of the University to further their post-graduate studies, this grant also has the potential to generate nationally-relevant findings that could contribute to the development of the apparel industry,” Dantanarayana said. “Brandix has consistently promoted academic excellence in the country and now steps have been taken to streamline these initiatives and enhance their impact across all universities,” he said.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor N D Gunawardena, Engineering Faculty Dean Professor U. G. A. Puswewala, Moratuwa University Bursar E. M. R. L. Munaweera, Brandix Lanka Group HR Operations Head Ashanthi Fernando and Brandix Hangers Limited Chief Executive K P Thayakaran were present at the presentation.

The grant by Brandix covers expenses related to hiring technical support. A key academic appointed by the University will head the research accompanied by a PhD student from the University. Research is expected to commence within three months. Similar research projects undertaken by the Moratuwa University have delivered significant results.

In another recent initiative to support academic excellence, Brandix entered into an agreement to annually award a Gold Medal to the best student in the BSc. Operations and Technology Management (Special) degree programme of the Management Studies and Commerce Faculty (FMSC) of the Sri Jayewardenepura University.

Top tutors from BPP, Kaplan to conduct workshops

The ACCA Learning Providers’ conference scheduled for July 20 and 21 at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo, will consist of top tutors from BPP and Kaplan with experience in teaching in the UK and in other key markets. They will conduct a series of workshops over a period of two days , that will cover panel discussions and debates with ACCA staff and learning providers, on overcoming challenges and exploring opportunities for achieving tuition excellence in the region.

This conference will give ACCA’s learning providers in Sri Lanka, the opportunity to meet an eminent panel of experienced tutors to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced in the market, debate strategies to improve standards of tuition support, discuss best practices for teaching assessment methodologies and identify challenges and initiate solutions to help improve exam performance.

The workshops will be led by two experienced tutors, BPP Ireland Head Peter Plant and Kaplan’s Andrew Bradley. These workshops are designed to offer insights into best practices that are vital to supporting student performance at ACCA examinations. The panel will conduct four workshops throughout the conference on the topics covering key areas of importance to learning providers such as, effective delivery and course design, student engagement including practice, worked examples and assessments and motivating yourself and students.

A special session will also be held on marketing ACCA qualifications and exploring best practices where two experienced ACCA staff with a vast experience in the region will offer practical insights.

A panel debate will also be held on tuition excellence and overcoming challenges and exploring opportunities that will focus on the future of learning providers and will aim to provide action points for enhancing professional accounting education standards in the region.

Subjects discussed will focus on the challenges around effective conversion of students to members, roles played by tutors and approved learning partners and creating linkages with employers for sustained business growth. The panelists for this session will consist of PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner Sujeewa Mudalige and Phoenix Financial Training Managing Director David Thomasson.

The learning providers conference is a part of ACCA’s initiatives to strengthen links between ACCA and quality tuition providers, allowing best practice to be shared and access to a range of promotional opportunities and to ensure that their learning providers adhere to the highest standards to provide students with the best possible chance of success.

The conference has now been fully subscribed and will have delegates from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Dubai, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and UK.