Middlesex varsity branch in Lanka soon

by Elmo Leonard

A "fully-fledged" branch of Middlesex University (MU) London, to be constructed offshore, Sri Lanka, is in the pipeline. It is intended to make the island a pivot for MU degrees, on offer for students from South, and South East Asia. Complete with campus, it will be modelled on the MU, built in Dubai less than two years ago, vice chancellor for MU London, Prof Michael Driscoll said in Colombo, last week.

Initially, the project will include 5,000 students and expand to 10,000 in five years. Ceylinco Holdings, which has had dealings with MU since 1996, will provide the finance and marketing for the scheme, deputy chairman, Ceylon Education Group, Jagath Alwis, told principals from leading schools and international schools, heads of private educational institutions, prospective students and the media.

As a prelude, a mini-MU Campus is planned in Colombo. The cost of the intended projects, was too premature to be revealed. "A model has been made."

MU in Dubai, is partnered by "rulers of that nation" and it took 18 months to break even and now, profits are coming in, Driscoll said.

MU is represented in Sri Lanka by International College of Business Technology Ltd (ICBT Campus) Mount Lavinia, its dean, Dr Egerton Senanayake said.

MU London is one of the most patronised by Sri Lankan students studying in Britain, now, counting 111 pupils. South Asian nationals comprise 1,500 students.

Driscall said that MU is one of Britain's largest universities with an international reputation for academic excellence in nearly all subject areas. While British higher education had begun over 200 years ago, MU has a heritage, traced back to the 19th century. MU is best known for its forward looking approach to teaching and learning at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, he said.

MU has a strong international standing being judged the top modern university for research in London and sixth nationally among modern Universities by the 2001 National Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

It has also been awarded three Queen's Anniversary Prizes, the most recent being the Queen's Award for International Trade in 2003. It has also been rated excellent in academic quality, student support services and library facilities, MUs regional director for South Asia, Prof Maroof Raza said.

MU is the number one choice for international students studying in the UK, it was claimed. It attracts more than 5500 international students from over 130 countries and partnerships with over 300 institutions worldwide.

The British Council are partners for MU in the world, with country manager, Ms Kumuduni Jayathilaka.

Answering questions, Driscoll said that British education is very highly rated globally, having evolved over centuries and he claimed it was the "most diversified, with enormous choices and range." The governments of USA and Australia are not able to provide assurances, as the British government could, for standards maintained by their universities, he said.

Britain has 70,000 overseas students, Driscoll said Britain provides the "lowest cost" for higher education. It is possible for university students to earn in Britain.

The employer company, could continue engaging the student for up to a year, but, there was no guarantee of permanent residence. Driscoll said that London is the most successful economy for a city, in the world, and also most racially diversified. Students who pass out, enter the global economy, leaving out their nationalistic values, he said.

Britain was second to Japan in university drop-out rate, Driscoll said.