Start your journey towards internationally recognized qualifications with CIIHE International Foundation
View(s):What is a Foundation Program?
Considering the trends around the world in qualifying at a younger age and the increasing competitiveness in finding a good job, today a significant number of students prefer to get qualified as young as possible. As a result alternative ways of entering the bachelor’s degree programs are becoming popular. Out of these several options a foundation program is the most academically sound and reliable way of doing it.
Why did CIIHE introduce a foundation program?
Many foundation programs are offered by various institutes in Sri Lanka at the moment, but most of them are restricting students who do them in many ways. For example some foundation programs are narrowed down in curriculum that after completing these programmes students could only enter certain degree programs, and some programmes are restricting the choice of place or country of higher education, because you can only enter certain universities upon completing them. We at CIRP believe that students should be given a choice to select their future field of study if the education they receive is to be meaningful. That is why we introduced the foundation at CIIHE.
How would CIIHE Foundation overcome the restrictions you mentioned?
First of all, we offer the broadest range of electives and especially students are free to select any combination. Along with the two core modules of Essential mathematics and Academic Writing, which is required to complete any degree today, students can select from a list of subjects in business, arts, science and psychology fields.
What is the advantage of providing such a choice?
We need to understand that students who are doing foundation programs are very young. Most of them do not have an idea about what they would like to do or especially what they are truly good at doing in order to select a field of study that leads to a career. Therefore it is essential that we leave them room until the end of the foundation to take an informed decision based on their own understanding of their skills and preferences. Also by giving them a chance to select a range of different subjects they could actually test these areas themselves and develop an understanding of he/himself.
What options are available at the end of the CIIHE Foundation?
Students could either select Bachelor’s degrees in Science stream, Business Stream, Hospitality, Arts Stream or Psychology which is straight forward. In addition they could select more attractive degrees such as Business and Psychology, Psychology and Arts, Business and Arts and so on. These options would prepare students to face the challenges of the future world. For example professional artists would need to know how to manage his finances or have knowledge in marketing if he/she is to be successful. Also a combination of Business and Psychology would allow them to get jobs in many areas from marketing to HRM and Corporate training. International universities are offering these combinations already and its time Sri Lanka does it too.What are the further study options available to CIIHE Foundation students?
Upon completing the program, they could either decide to study further with us or to join another institute in Sri Lanka or abroad. They could enter our BSc/BA programs and graduate in Sri Lanka from the partner universities that we offer degrees from. Ones who are interested in transferring could apply to universities in any continent for most of the degree programs.
Why is it called an International Foundation program?
For two reasons. First is that we have designed the curriculum under the guidance of academics and professionals from international universities therefore the quality of the program in terms of curriculum, assessments and delivery is at a truly international level.
Secondly this program is accepted by top universities such as Coventry University as an entry qualification for their degree programs offered in UK. We are in the final stage of finalizing with a whole range of other universities as well. Therefore this program is aimed at not only preparing students to study in Sri Lanka but also to enter top international universities, hence called international.
What is the purpose of core modules?
The core modules are essential to successfully complete any degree program. If the goal of a foundation is to prepare students to the BSc or BA level we must empower them with all necessary skills and knowledge. It is called essential mathematics as it only cover the areas that would be useful during the degree. Most students do not do mathematics and select social science or arts to avoid mathematics, but all of them will find statistics in their research methods in any recognized degree. Therefore it is our responsibility to prepare them for the challenge.
Academic writing is also essential. Students may speak English well and are good at general writing but most of them struggle when it comes to academic writing. This would make them perform poor in their coursework, assignments and dissertations. Therefore we have included Academic Writing as a core module for everyone.
What else is special about studying at CIIHE?
We are known to attract good students, because we provide excellent teaching, best infrastructure and learning facilities at international standards. Also the level of concern and individual attention given to students by the staff is outstanding. Students at CIIHE feel they are cared for and given the best possible in the country. Therefore there is a strong sense of community at CIIHE.
Furthermore we provide the maximum opportunities to students to develop themselves through organizing International conferences, internships and placements within and outside CIRP. There are many extra activities such as choir, dancing classes, Rotract Club and other clubs and societies organized through the student council.
We also provide a safe environment for students study by maintaining the required level of discipline in students to ensure that the atmosphere at CIIHE favors studying and academic activities.
If you are interested in finding out more, you could contact CIIHE student advisers on 0112 50 70 71 /72 or visiting us at 230, Galle road, Colombo 04.