VC's Message - University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

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	VC's Message


	The University of Kelaniya is committed to provide quality higher education and conduct high impact research which will significantly contribute to enhance the existing knowledge in various fields of Humanities, Medicine, Science, Social Sciences, Commerce & Management and to the development of the country. It was established in 1959 as the Vidyalankara University of Sri Lanka and was the successor of Vidyalankara Pirivena, established in 1875, which was one of the highly reputed tertiary education institutes committed to monastic education. As such, the University of Kelaniya is one of the oldest institutes of higher education in Sri Lanka. Although only few subject areas such as Languages, Geography, Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Economics were taught at the beginning, today the University of Kelaniya teaches more than 60 subjects and consists of 6 Faculties with 44 academic departments. It caters for about 8,000 internal students and around 30,000 external degree students. The staff consists of about 600 academics and 650 non-academic staff members. Two postgraduate institutes, namely, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology and the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, and an institute dealing with indigenous medicine, i.e. the Gampaha Wickramarachchi Ayurveda Institute are affiliated to the University of Kelaniya. Further, the degrees for the officers who follow the prescribed courses at the Naval and Maritime Academy of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Staff College of the Sri Lanka Army are offered by the University of Kelaniya. The University of Kelaniya, is a forerunner in reforming higher education to suit the modern day requirements while being rooted in our own culture and protecting our traditions. The Faculty of the University of Kelaniya represents great depth of knowledge in a multitudes of disciplines. They have published considerably and some have won many prestigious national and international awards. We have embraced interdisciplinary approach allowing students to offer inter faculty courses so that we produce graduates who are more suited for present day needs. Special emphasis is made to enhance English proficiency and IT skills of the students together with their interpersonal and subject related skills. We encourage the faculty to establish collaborative academic programmes with other institutions, both local and international, to enhance their knowledge and develop joint research ventures. We also look for international collaborations for academic exchange and joint research ventures which will have mutual benefits. To date, we have established a number of such important collaborations with many foreign institutes. We welcome more of such academic links. Further, we are planning to offer new subjects and new degree programmes which will be very useful in the present day context to produce quality graduates with necessary knowledge and skills for the development of the country. A new degree programme in Environmental Conservation & Management will be commenced next year to produce graduates who are skilled in protecting the environment and nature. A new degree programme in Nursing will also be commenced next year. We are committed to build a dynamic nation with a strong commitment to environmental protection and social harmony. With the highly committed, well qualified, energetic staff, I am confident that we will be able to maintain our position in the higher education sector as one of the leading Universities in Sri Lanka.