ESOFT Metro Campus receives Degree awarding status
View(s):ESOFT Metro Campus was recently granted Non-State Degree Awarding Institution status, with effect from 30th August 2019.
This was in accordance with Section 25 A of the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978, which allows for the Ministry of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education to make such a declaration after reviewing the expert reports submitted by the panel appointed by the Ministry.
ESOFT Metro Campus was established in 2000 and is a trusted name in Sri Lanka for providing high quality education. This is due in part to the fact that ESOFT builds partnerships with reputed international organisations in the education sector in order to provide the best opportunities to Sri Lankan Students, and also because we have taken education to the rural areas of Sri Lanka as well via our branch network of over 40 locations which also includes the North and the East.
ESOFT offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the fields of IT, Business Management, Engineering, Travel & Tourism Management, and Hospitality Management. With a trusted track record of 19 years, ESOFT has a lot to offer the youth of this country.
One of the reasons for the success of ESOFT students is that ESOFT has a dedicated full-time academic panel including those with Degrees and Masters and above, as well as professional qualifications. Students will also have unlimited access to our state of the art computing labs.
With the addition of the Non-State Degree Awarding status, ESOFT will be able to design and introduce a range of degree programmes in a wide variety of disciplines including IT & Computing, Business & Management, Engineering, and more.
These degrees will be designed in accordance with, and full compliance of UGC guidelines and circulars, whilst also taking inputs from employers as well as looking at the latest international trends.
ESOFT’s goal is to produce world-class graduates who are ready to take up any challenge, and to provide these educational opportunities to the youth of this country.
The first degree to be approved by the UGC is the Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) Degree, which is a 4 year degree with specialisations. Students who have completed their Advanced Level examinations in any stream and obtained a minimum of 3 passes are eligible to apply for entry. Initially, the degree programme will be available in Colombo.
Given the fact that the majority of students who pass their A/L’s are unable to secure a place in the state universities, the inclusion of ESOFT in the Degree Awarding category is a timely action. Coupled with the interest-free loan scheme that is offered by the government, students will be able to read for and achieve their degree without having to spend a single cent. This will be an immense help to the parents, as they will not have to worry about the financing.
Under this programme, the funding is provided by the State in the form of an interest free loan, and the student starts to pay back the loan only after completing the degree. They are therefore able to complete the degree, find suitable employment, and then comfortably pay back the loan.
Given the fact that Information Technology is one of the fastest developing fields in Sri Lanka, contributing over one billion US Dollars annually to Sri Lanka’s export revenue, there is a massive need for qualified professionals. The plan is to grow this revenue five-fold, to five billion US Dollars by 2022. Currently, there are approximately 125,000 professionals working in the IT industry, and some estimate the requirement to be over 200,000 professionals within three year’s time. The current demand is for 21,000 IT graduates per year, whereas the output from the Universities is around 9,000.
This shows that the government has taken a timely decision in engaging the private sector Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) by empowering them with the degree awarding status. The private HEI’s have an ambition to position Sri Lanka as an educational hub in the region, to attract foreign students in addition to the local students. The foreign students would be in Sri Lanka for educational purposes only, and would return back to their native countries upon completion. Sri Lankan students can look forward to being gainfully employed either here in Sri Lanka, or overseas.
Apart from the IT degrees that have been approved, additional degree programmes are being designed in other fields including Business & Management, Engineering, Hospitality Management, and more. These programmes will be designed and rolled out in consultation with industry and employers, to ensure that there is a match between what is in demand, and what is supplied.
All UGC Approved programmes will be conducted with strict adherence to the set guidelines and regular reviews will be conducted by the authorities to ensure that the required standards are met. ESOFT looks forward to serving the Country, and we look forward to commencing these programmes early next year.
Further details can be obtained by visiting
www.esoft.lk or by calling ESOFT on 0117 572 572