Under the guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksha, we have successfully launched a pure campaign to regain the higher education system in Sri Lanka. Minister of Higher Education S.B.Dissanayake said on Wednesday (10) at a function held at the Trincomalee campus to lay foundation stones for a restaurant with recreation facilities, faculty building for applied science, building for library complex.
The expenditure percentage allocated under the capital budget for universities in 2005 was very low. Some universities were not able to expand even fifty percent, out of their capital budget. Now it has gone up and generally it’s in the range of 75%. Within next two to three months, we can end-up the hostel facility problem by providing hostels for each individual.
When I came here as the newly appointed Higher Education Minister, the facilities you had as students were very bad. When you compare with 2005, today there is a tremendous development in infrastructure, the academic atmosphere, administration, sanitary facilities etc. in the Trincomalee Campus. We are developing the higher education system in Sri Lanka to achieve the target of the most cost effective education hub in the Asia in 2020.
In 2005, total allocation for a student was Rs.9000 and now it has increased up to 150,000 in 2014. This is the Mahinda Rajapaksha era where we have planned to admit 100,000 students in 2020. With the huge development of infrastructure, academic and non-academic staff it is simply possible in 2020 with Mahinda Chinthana Vision for the Future.
We have introduced a top-up course which can also be called as bridging course to produce more graduates with practical and theoretical knowledge for the highly competitive world market. The students who are studying for NVQ, Higher National Diplomas and other similar diploma courses have a chance to obtain a degree while they are working in the field. Hundreds of thousands of diploma holders who are working in other countries, are suffering without a degree to demand higher salary though they have enough practical knowledge and experiences. The President who after identifying this problem has advised us to provide suitable measures to help them, He further stated.
Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama, the Governor of the Eastern Province, Dr.K.Kobindarajah-Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Prof.Ranjith Premalal de silva, Competent Authority to the Trincomalee campus and distinguished invitees were present on the occasion.
