345 students to receive IBSL diplomas and certificates

The convocation of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL) will be held on October 24 at which 345 students will receive their diplomas and certificates. The chief guest on the occasion will be the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UK’s Northumbria University Prof Craig Mahoney, said Chairman IBSL W.A. Wijewardena who is also the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank.

Why the Deputy Vice Chancellor from a British University as Chief Guest? That is because Northumbria has accepted the Institute’s Advanced Certificate in Banking and Finance or in the new examination structure, four subjects at its Diploma in Banking and Finance as equivalent to a three-year study at the university’s four-year honours degree program in banking and finance and admits such students direct to the final year, Wijewardena said.

Another unique feature of IBSL’s examinations is that they are all jointly accredited by the UK’s prestigious and reputed Bankers’ Institute, Institute of Financial Services (IFS), so that students get an internationally recognised qualification, though they may have sat for the examinations in Sinhala or Tamil.

He said that the results of all the examinations of the Institute were released within 28 days of conducting the examinations for the first time in IBSL’s history. This was possible as we had all the resources, while all persons concerned worked as a team to achieve the target.

IBSL changed the examination structure from the three tier to the two tier commencing March this year and the three tier structure will cease from next month ie, until such time students who were mid stream and were sitting for the three tier examination structure can sit and get through.

The new structure has given more opportunities for students to select subjects according to their liking and to suit the trends of the modern and changing world.

He said that there are 8,670 candidates and 40 papers under both structures.

According to statistics, 21,845 subject candidates sat for the examination starting end March. As the results were released early, the students had ample opportunity to prepare for a paper they want to sit if they had failed.

We also conduct lectures at the College of Banking and Finance in Maradana, while accredited centres also conduct lectures for the examinations. The examinations are held in all three languages twice a year and IBSL also held examinations in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Trincomalee and the papers were airlifted.

Wijewardena said that a person who wishes to get a banking qualification can do it with either Ordinary level examination or Advanced level examination results and continue studies up to an MBA.

Once a student obtains the Diploma in Banking and Finance, if interested, he can continue to do an MBA at the Post Graduate Institute of Management in Sri Lanka or Northumbria University UK or at the ICFAI in India, provided he fulfils the other entry requirements.

The salient feature of our examination structure is that we not only test the knowledge of the students but also the skills of the students through holistic marking. As the marking criteria are strict, students should obtain 51 marks to get an ordinary pass in any subject they sit.

He said that most banks insist that Banking assistants pass the CBF to obtain promotions, while getting through the DBF also is duly recognised by most banks in State and private banks.

He said, “Our qualifications have opened many avenues for bankers and financial industry personnel to secure jobs in the Middle East as well as in the western world.”

IBSL offers the CBF and DBF in collaboration with the IFS School of Finance, UK, formerly known as the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB), London.

The College of Banking and Finance at Maradana in addition to conducting classes for CBF and DBF also conducts a host of other seminars and workshops during the year.