Government to build 300 new universities in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will create 300 university colleges where students who are unable to enter national universities can join and earn an advanced national diploma, Bandula Gunawardane, minister of higher education, said.

This year, 181,000 students have passed university requirements for Advanced-Grade Earning Entry. However in tax-payer funded universities, there are only about 30,000 seats, leaving about 150,000 high and dry, he said.

Sri Lanka is, in many aspects, a development success story. The country’s robust economic growth for over a decade has helped to reduce poverty and promoted shared prosperity. In 2010–13, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5 percent, Sri Lanka was the fastest-growing economy in South Asia. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth continued in 2014, reaching 7.4 percent, driven mainly by services, manufacturing, and construction. In 2016, the country’s per capita GDP expected to reach US$4,000. Measured by per capita consumption and using the national poverty line, Sri Lanka’s poverty rate dropped to 6.7 percent in 2012/13 (World Bank 2016).

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has promised opportunities for higher education to all students who meet entrance requirements before the end of their term, and the first phase is now beginning. Entry to existing universities for the next academic year will increase by 25 percent.

Union colleges will built using existing facilities and technical schools and related state departments that are underused or unused rather than spending money on new buildings, he said.

At least 100 such colleges will be established by the end of 2020, which will issue two year diplomas. Many of the vocational colleges in Sri Lanka had unused or underutilized spaces and facilities, Minister Gunawardane said.

The university colleges will concentrate on IT, Software Engineering, and English. Such students will have a credential that Minister Gunawardane said can be used globally.

Meanwhile, the government will also grant the better private degree-awarding colleges ' Chartered ' status, which will monitor on an ongoing basis, he said.

OSL Take: In Sri Lanka’s quest to become a knowledge hub for Asia, Education and Training have undoubtedly become the key sectors of focus. Although Sri Lanka has a very high literacy rate and is producing graduates who are of ever-increasing quality, there is very much room for improvement in the sector. The government policy of creating a dynamic education sector with the involvement of the private sector to create competition and breathe new life to a system that may have stagnated has created a wealth of business opportunities in Sri Lanka for those who are interested.

The focus of the newly elected government in enhancing the education sector is a clear indicator of the emerging business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector. Sri Lanka has given priority to the country’s education sector in line with Sri Lanka’s long term development plans. Many foreign universities have opened pathway colleges in Sri Lanka as well. Therefore international businesses/investors could explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector.

 VBS/AT/20200303/Z_TB8