‘There should be no disparity in internal or external degrees’

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is now reviewing the progress of Ministries held extensive discussions on Friday with Higher Education Ministry officials on their Mid Term National Higher Education Strategic Management Plan 2013-2015.

The vision of the Higher Education Ministry is to make Sri Lanka an international hub of excellence in higher education by 2020.

The Ministry has set 12 goals to reach this target, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

During the discussions Minister S.B.Dissanayake had briefed the President on the 12 goals of the Ministry.

This includes the increasing opportunities and access to higher education, new world-class universities, improving employability and the quality of graduates.

Minister Dissanayake explained to the President the key targets to be achieved by the Ministry within the next three years.

The Ministry will increase the present university intake of 21,000 students to 25,000 by 2015.

The Ministry will improve the world rankings of Sri Lankan universities. Six Sri Lankan universities were among the top 55 universities in South Asia in 2012. Our intention is to bring at least 10 universities to this level by 2015, he said.

The Ministry will also improve the present 55 percent employability ratio of graduates to 70 percent by 2015.

Special attention has been focused to improve the employability ratio of art graduates.

The prime objective of the Ministry is to make each graduate employable by 2018. The Ministry has given priority to develop communication skills, team work, leadership and confidence-building of university students, Dr.Nawaratne said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made an open invitation to nearly 600 university lecturers and professors who are serving in foreign universities to return to Sri Lanka and teach in our universities.

There should be no disparity in the degrees of internal or external university students, the President said.