All higher educational institutions to be covered:

Leadership training expanded

Ridma Dissanayake

*Number of requests from parents, students

*Sixteen higher educational institutions in country

The leadership training programme introduced to new university entrants would be extended to the students of the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technology (SLIATE) and other higher educational institutions. The Higher Education Ministry has decided to extend this programme to higher educational institutions with the successful completion of leadership training programme for university entrants.

According to Higher Education Ministry Additional Secretary P.G. Jayasinghe, the ministry has received a number of requests from parents and students that this programme be introduced to other higher educational institutions.

The ministry will introduce this programme to students who would be recruited to higher educational institutions, including Technical Colleges under the purview of the Higher Education Ministry.

There are 16 higher educational institutes in the country and over 3,500 students are recruited to these institutes annually. From next year number of the students are to be increased to 4,500-5,000 and they are to follow the leadership training programme from next year.

The leadership training programme which is to be given to the students entering higher educational institutes would be similar to the programme followed by university entrants and the programme for them would also be carried out in military camps, he added.