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An Interview conducted with very Rev. Dr. Susith Mark L. Silva, The Vice Chancellor / Rector of Aquinas College of Higher Studies: (ACHS) by Sr.Concelia Mariampillai HC
View(s):It’s a great achievement for Aquinas College of Higher Studies to have already completed the 9th convocation. Could you tell us about ACHS and its special function and achievement from its inception?
Very Rev. Dr. Susith Silva B.Ph.(Rome), B.Th.(Rome), BA (SL), MA (SL), M.Sc AMBA (USA), Psy.D/Ph.d (USA)
The name ‘Aquinas College of Higher Studies’ itself speaks a great deal. Our Institution has the Patron Saint, St. Thomas Aquinas, who was / is the doctor of the Church; held two Professorships at the University of Paris and had held the Chair for several years, of the same University that had 30,000 students at that time. He is the Patron Saint of all Catholic Universities globally and so is ours. The term ‘College of Higher Studies’ indicates, that it is an Institution which imparts knowledge to the youth after G.C.E.A/L and prepare them to contrive a future Healthy Nation.
How did this concept of ‘College of Higher Studies’ come about? Who was responsible for it?
In 1954 this educational Institution was established by an internationally reputed eminent scholar and educationist Very Rev. Dr. Peterpillai OMI . Only a fraction of students were absorbed by the State Universities at that time from the UGC acknowledged eligible students for higher education. The major part of the eligible students was left in the dirge to find their ways and prepare themselves for future. It is here, that as a socially sensitive educationist, Very Rev. Fr. Peterpillai, thrust ahead to answer the needs of those students. At the commencement of ACHS, he prepared those students for London A/L, London Math and Science Degrees exams as well as to the external Degrees from the local State Universities and saw to his heart content 100% academically qualified Sri Lankans.
The encompassing Vision outlined by the Founder was: “To transcend the traditional taboos of caste, creed and race and provide an intellectual and Social environment to prepare disciplined, socially conscious and morally committed intellectuals and Professionals to be catalysts of a better world”.
As to the Mission: It is “to provide the necessary man power skills and enlightened leadership, so as to bring about a better world in which people can live in harmony and peace with a sense of fulfillment and happiness”.
Definitely. You know, continuity is the bedrock of stability. ACHS has never side-tracked from its purpose of education of youth. The reason for it, this Institution is directly governed by the Archbishop of Metropolitan Diocese of Colombo. It is he who appoints the Vice-Chancellor / Rector of this educational Institution. The present Vice-Chancellor / Rector is the eighth in the line from its very inception to hold this position. The same ministry namely, the education of youth is being carried out, with additional innovative units added in answer to the needs of our time.
What are the special Characteristics?
First of all, in loyalty to its Christian Mission Aquinas stands for:
The commitment to be a light that leads men towards the true source of all knowledge and life.
The inculcation of Respect, Loyalty and Fidelity to one’s own Religion and Nation;
In today’s money oriented Society, ACHS stands out as a Non Profit making organisation, and at the same time renders a quality education, so that the beneficiaries to become catalysts of a better world.
As you know ours is an institute that gallops with the time. As T.S. Eliot said we not only consider the “pastness of the past but of its presence”. From the time we obtained the Degree awarding status from the Ministry of Higher Education as well as from UGC in 2005, we dropped out the London A/L, London and local external Degree programmes and we moved into preparing students for our own Degree programmes. We began with four different Degree programmes and last year the BSc Honours Degree in Agro Industry and Management was added and in the coming year another two would be included.
Our main challenge is to read the signs of the time ahead, and introduce new fields accordingly and prepare students academically to be ready to capture the ever changing market demands. Our perspective is always future oriented and we are always ahead of the time for eg. Thinking of the oncoming Fort City we have already begun with Languages like. Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, Logistics, IT, and Supply Chain as the main subjects to be offered for the Bachelor’s Degree so that when Fort City begins to function, our students will be ready to grasp the decent jobs instead of foreign nationals.
We spent our great energy and resources on the Farm modernizing it with latest infrastructure, erecting a hostel for girls with a warden for their security, providing another hostel for the boys, a shuttle service between ACHS and their hostel and other needed equipment required for the practical of those students of BSc Honors Degree in Agro Industry Management. We aim at working towards achieving the global University standard and as the first step we’ve already established Student Management system three years ago. All arrangements are in progress to host the international symposium in January 2019. A Research Centre has been installed to go ahead with Researches. The Department of Examination was established and under this umbrella come all activities pertaining to question papers obtained from our various faculties, and all other activities that go with exam and after the exam, until the awarding of the Certificates to the students. In order to suit the needs of our time, we have brought into the syllabi of the Degrees as well as in various Diploma courses, new innovative subjects in place of the traditional ones. We have also spent much on recruiting academically well qualified Professionals to be in our lecture panel.
You name it. We have it. Teacher Training, five Degrees, Nursing, Engineering, Marketing, Finance Management, Human Resource Management, Hospitality and culinary Art, Religious Studies, Information Technology, various Languages, English, and we have about 30 different Diploma Courses. We help the students both in skill and intellectual development so that the students at the end of their successful studies would be able to get decent jobs.
Rev: All sports activities under Division three; we prepare students to participate in Debate and Shakespeare Drama Competitions, Net ball and Marshal Art.
What percentage of graduating students finds jobs in their career field within 3 to 6 months of the completion of their degrees?
Rev: All 100% of the students find their jobs within the period of 3 months
of completion of their Degrees. We get very big demand from both Corporate Sector and Government sector.
Our target groups are always students after G.C.E.A/L It is these youth who need help and guidance. Only 19% of the eligible students for university entrance are absorbed by the State University currently. The other 81 % of eligible students are left high and dry. Our interest is to help these students with holistic education.