Upul Daranagama |
Moving away from the hustle and bustle of city life and located in Malabe, which is best termed as the education hub of Sri Lanka, is Horizon College International (HCI) and the Horizon College of Business and Technology (HCBT) campus which are two complexes in the same location providing education from LKG (Lower Kindergarten) to PG (Postgraduate) with state-of-the-art facilities and modern infrastructure.
This is the first time in Sri Lanka that any educational institution has single handedly taken on the concept of providing education which leads up to a postgraduate degree in the same locality. The Sunday Times spoke to Mr. Upul Daranagama, Managing Director CEO of HCI and HCBT campus to find out what they have to offer students.
 "Although new to Sri Lanka, this type of concept is already available in countries such as Singapore and the Philippines. HCI will be catering to students from LKG to Grade 12, thereafter students can follow their degree studies and postgraduate studies at the HCBT campus. HCI as well as HCBT are located at Millennium Drive Malabe and are educational institutions that are deeply rooted towards providing students both local and international school curricular and postgraduate studies, whilst nurturing students to respect and value the Sri Lankan culture", says Mr. Daranagama.
The Pre School of HCI will be fully equipped with a computer laboratory, which will facilitate students as young as 4 years to experience first hand computer training. In addition to this the Pre School will also be equipped with separate library facilities. The Primary School and Secondary School of HCI offer broad and well balanced local and British curricular.
The Primary School is equipped with a modern library, a science laboratory, computer lab, speech lab, dance room, music room, drama room, swimming pool, IT facilities in beautifully landscaped play areas which are some of its special features.The primary focus of the Secondary School is to provide academic excellence through a well balanced combination of creative and expressive arts.
 The Secondary School provides the ideal environment where students learn to appreciate cultures and relationships, while acquiring a greater independence in thoughts and actions. In addition to this the school also offers a wide range of sporting and cultural co-curricular activities with a broad array of residential expeditions and trips for students to develop leadership, interpersonal and interactive skills whilst also providing opportunities for active community services. HCI will also be a great meeting place for many expatriate families in Colombo and will also be a place for parents as well as students to meet and form long lasting and endearing relationships.
"Another unique feature that we will be introducing to this concept is the school hostel which will include 40 rooms and will be for the benefit of outstation as well as overseas students. Another fact that I would like to highlight is the advantage of studying in the Malabe area, which is a very eco friendly environment and therefore highly conducive for learning. At present Malabe has become a highly residential area, where many private and public sector junior and senior executives reside. The one thing that this area lacked is a proper international school and higher education establishment.
With the establishing of HCI and HCBT campus we intend to fill this long awaited requirement and provide a proper solution to this much awaited and anticipated educational necessity. Furthermore, with the Southern Highway that connects Kottawa being linked through the outer circular highway to Malabe, it will enable commuting to Malabe quickly and make Malabe a much more congenial location for our school and campus", further stated Mr. Daranagama.
Both HCI and the HCBT campus takes pride in its teaching faculty which comprises of well qualified and experienced Sri Lankan and Foreign nationals living Sri Lanka. Alongside these facilities the institution will also be providing a free shuttle bus service for students and staff members from six main locations which include Dehiwala, Maharagama, Athurugiriya, Rajagiriya, Biyagama and Angoda. This free bus service will be an additional advantage for parents as they will not have to be concerned about their child's school transport. Parents who send their children to HCI will no longer have to be concerned about their higher studies due to the establishing of the HCBT campus which is the best benefit given to parents.
The HCBT campus will facilitate a separate IT Department, Business Management Department, Marketing Department, Science Department, Psychology Department, Languages Department, Telecommunication Department, Engineering Department as well as a General Education Department established to train teaching staff. Presently negotiations are under way with leading universities in the UK, India, Malaysia, in USA and Singapore to offer foreign degree affiliations. Students of the HCBT campus will therefore gain the opportunity to complete their entire degree in Sri Lanka or visit that respective country and complete their degree final year.
This method will provide a cost effective method of study in addition to providing international exposure for students. HCI will also be partnering with leading international schools in Singapore and Malaysia, which will enable students who wish to go abroad to attend their last year of school in these selected international partner schools. These partnerships will also open doors to student exchange programmes to be provided between partner schools of HCI. These are some of the basic advantages both HCI and HCBT will be offering its students.
"Through our total education concept what we want to offer is the nurturing and educating of a full and well rounded individual who has not only achieved high levels of excellence academically but has also become mentally and practically secure and will be employable by both local and international industry standards. Another point that should be stressed is that through the education culture that we offer at HCI and HCBT where we instill knowledge that is based on culture and values", assured Mr. Daranagama.
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