New TVEC Chairman Professor Dayantha Wijeyesekera
View(s):Professor Dayantha Wijeyesekera was appointed as the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) Chairman by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
This is in addition to being the University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) Chancellor.
The appointment was made on the recommendation of Skills development and Vocational Training Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
For 15 years, Prof. Wijeyesekera has been instrumental in drafting Parliamentary Bills for both these organisations, while he was the Skills development and Vocational Training Ministry Secretary, the Open University of Sri Lanka Vice Chancellor and the University of Moratuwa Vice Chancellor.
He has been the President/Chairman of four local and foreign professional bodies and a Fellow of five such organisations.
He counts it a privilege to have been appointed as Head of the Institution by all seven of the country’s Executive Heads, from President J.R. Jayawardena in 1985 to President Gotabaya Rajapakse in 2020.
Prof. Wijeyesekera’s main interest is developing alternate routes for career development through tertiary education. He has paved the way for many youth to pursue quality assured mid-level and university degree level education, recognised by professional bodies, which allows for good employment opportunities.
His main concern is the promotion of such avenues in addition to conventional state education, so that underutilised facilities available island-wide can be made of use.
He also said the information of such avenues can be gathered from the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC), Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA).
Prof. Wijeyesekera also said the country needs to have
mid-level qualified personnel in various study disciplines as they proceed up the ladder to a degree and above.