More higher education opps. for local students as Govt. aims for around 200,000 university students by 2025
View(s):The Government hopes to expand higher education opportunities to accommodate nearly 200,000 students by 2025. The mid-term goals for higher education, are set out as a part of the Government’s programme to provide continuous higher education up to degree level for all qualified students.
The goals were included in the Higher Education Ministry’s 2019 annual report which was tabled in Parliament last week. The new Government had incorporated the Education and Higher Education Ministries under a single ministry. The annual report however, includes the goals set out in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour.”
The higher education goals for 2025 included increasing the number of students admitted under the national university system from 30,000 to 40,000.
There were plans to introduce job-oriented weekend certificate/diploma programmes as well, which would accommodate at least 1,500 students in each state university. This would provide a further 30,000 students with higher education opportunities.
The Government also hoped to establish ten new universities in districts that currently do not have a state university, thereby increasing the annual university intake by 15,000 students. The Government had also planned to introduce afternoon courses at 300 selected Mahindodaya Laboratories, and enrol 100 students for each course. At least one such lab would be selected from each Divisional Secretariat, and this would provide more higher education opportunities to 30, 000 students, across the country.
Another higher education goal that was put forward last week was establishing non-profit oriented chartered universities, to expand higher education opportunities for 30,000 more students. The Government had also been working on further standardisation and expansion of the non-state university system. This would provide higher education opportunities to 20,000 students.
They were also working on upgrading the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) to become a chartered university, that would benefit15,000 students.
Overall, the annual report said higher education opportunities would accommodate 197,040 students by 2025, under the entire programme.
-SJ