2ND LEAD (CORRECTION)

World Bank holds seminar in Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 September 2009, 06:48 GMT]
The World Bank Sri Lanka Office held a seminar Monday in Jaffna University Library Auditorium on its recent report on Higher Education in Sri Lanka titled ‘The Towers of Learning’ which said “the economic relevance and quality of the higher education sector at present is considerably below the level required of a middle-income country”, sources in Jaffna said. It was informed in the above seminar that World Bank will allocate 1700 million rupees for the current year for improving the standard of education in the 15 universities in the country, almost doubling its last year allocation of 800 million rupees, the sources added.

Ms. Naoko Ishii, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives, Prof. N. Shanmugalingan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jaffna, Prof. K. Balasuntharampillai, former VC of Jaffna University, Education Officials, Faculty Deans and Lecturers and other educationists participated in the seminar.

The report - “The Towers of Learning: Performance, Peril and Promise of Higher Education in Sri Lanka”- stresses the need for the higher education sector to lead the creation of a skilled, technologically competent, and enlightened population that can transform Sri Lanka from a country in conflict to a prosperous country in peace, according to the information given in the seminar.

The proposed Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Project will seek to assist Sri Lanka to develop its higher education system to meet the needs of the modern global knowledge economy.

The Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Project will support:

(a) The establishment of a National Qualification Framework (NQF) for the higher education sector,

(b) The installation of a Quality Assurance Mechanism (QAM) for higher education institutions;

(c) Initiatives in universities to improve the quality and employability of graduates, including strengthening their English language and IT skills; (d) Measures to promote social cohesion; and (e) expand access to job-oriented higher education programs.