37th AGM of Alumni Association of Colombo University
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Sumanaratne Marasinghe (Head of Administration), Ms. Ruwandhi Thathrige (Secretary), Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne (Vice Chancellor), Rajeev Amarasuriya (President), Minister Rauff Hakeem, Ms. Suranjani Wickramaratne (Vice President), Milad Mubarak (Treasurer), J.M.S. Bandara (Asst. Treasurer)
The 37th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Alumni Association of the University of Colombo (AAUoC) was held recently at the Senate Hall, College House, UoC, with Minister for City Planning, Water Supply & Higher Education, Rauff Hakeem as Chief Guest.
Vidyajyothi Prof Colvin Gunaratna
Alumni President Rajeev Amarasuriya and other Office-bearers were re-elected for another term of office. The meeting was attended by UoC Vice Chancellor Senior Prof Chandrika Wijeyaratne, Past Presidents of the Association, Academics and Members.
Mr Hakeem, in his Keynote Address, congratulated the AAAUoC and the UoC for their efforts towards the development of the undergraduates and the UoC. Whilst the UoC should be proud of all its past accomplishments, he said, Sri Lanka’s Higher Education System (HES) should strive to improve on international rankings and recognition as well.
Reflecting on the recent events, he said, “It is time we addressed issues of religiosity and our connection to existential values concerning co-existence.”
“Our Primary Education completion rate is 95%, Secondary Education completion rate is 86%, the Literacy rate is at 95 %, with Life Expectancy for Females at 75 years and Males at 72 years. Hence, we are virtually on par with upper middle-income countries and have progressed well,” he added.
He stated that, during the last four years alone, almost 80 hostels, which can house 400 students each, have been built for the Universities, while there has been an increase in the intake for Universities from 24,000 to almost 33,000, including an increase in almost 100 seats in the Ruhuna University for Medicine. He further stated that 2 new Medical Faculties were opened in Sabaragamuwa and in Wayamba.
The Minister further stated that, with the introduction of a new legislation to set up a separate Quality Assurance and Accreditation Commission, he wishes to regularise the Higher Education System, and further improve its quality to a level that would attract international students as well.
AAUoC President Rajeev Amarasuriya, in his address, highlighted the key activities carried out by the Association, in the past 3 years, with focus on last year.
Vidyajyothi Prof Lalitha Mendis
The Association undertook several student welfare Projects including the launch of an Internship programme and a Leadership programme instituted with the help of the Bridge Partnership and Nations Trust Bank (NTB). He greatly appreciated the contributions made by the Alumni Partners by way of monetary and other contributions.
Mr. Amarasuriya briefed the Association of the largest project in the history of the institution, which is to build a professional swimming pool, and said he is thankful to Minister Hakeem for extending his fullest support towards this project, and intends to work with him closely to make it a reality in the near future.
He also stated that next year is a very important year for the UoC, as it would be celebrating 150 years since the formation of the Ceylon Medical College, which also marks the beginnings of the UoC.
He said there will be many activities that the Alumni will necessarily be involved with, and together with the UoC, some events dedicated for Alumni would also be held.
Deshamanya Professor J.B. Disanayaka
Reporting to the membership that the Association, in the last 3 years, had achieved substantial progress as an Alumni body, it was now time to look at the next phase of development of this Association, which would focus on expanding the Alumni base to have a larger number of Alumni engaged with the UoC, he added.
The Secretary’s Report was presented by Ms. Ruwandhi Thanthige who provided a detailed report of the activities of the Association.
Vice Chancellor Colombo University Senior Prof Chandrika Wijeyaratne said the UoC consistently strove to provide the best education and best learning facilities for students. She stated that, with the collective effort of the administration, the AAUoC and the students, it is possible to achieve high levels of success.
| 5 Senior Distinguished Alumni Felicitated A special item on the agenda was the felicitation of 5 very Senior Distinguished Alumni, for their contributions in their respective fields and their overall contribution to the country at large. This felicitation was the 3rd such felicitation, with the first held at the 2016 AGM, and thereafter at the 2018 AGM. Kalakeerthi Dr. Edwin Ariyadasa, Deshamanaya Vidyajyothi Prof Colvin Gunaratna, Vidyajyothi Prof Lalitha Mendis, Deshamanya Prof J.B. Disanayaka and Deshabandu Dr. C.G. Uragoda were those felicitated. Furthermore, the Alumni Partners of the AAUoC, LOLC Group, Nation Trust Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank PLC, 3CS and Akbar Brothers were recognized for their financial and non-financial support given to the Association, to achieve its student development and welfare goals, while Mrs. Keshini Jayawardena – Lead Consultant of the Bridge Partnership in Sri Lanka, was felicitated for conducting on a honourary basis, an ongoing series of high-level Leadership Prorgammes followed by Mentoring of Undergraduates, in collaboration with NTB. 2019-2020 Executive Committee Rajeev Amarasuriya (President), Lakshman Keerthisinghe (Immediate Past President), Senior Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne (Ex-Officio Vice President), Ms. Suranjani Wickremaratne (Vice President), Ms. Ruwandhi Thanthrige (Secretary), Prof. Naazima Kamardeen (Asst Secretary), Milad Mubarak (Treasurer), J M S Bandara (Asst Treasurer), Ms. Mahesha Amarasuriya (Editor), M.K. Gnanasekera (Asst. Editor) Committee Members: Milton Arandara, K.D.R. Siriwardena, Jithendra Gunathilaka, G. Wijemanne, Dr. Dayani Panagoda, Ms. Dinesha De Silva, Pradeep Uluwaduge, Asanka Ranhotty, S.R. Balachandran, Ms. Chathurika Akuregoda. Past Presidents as Advisors Tissa Devendra, J. Charitha Ratwatte, Thilak Karunaratne, Mrs. Ramanee Amarasuriya and P.W. Senaratne. | |