Dear Parents, times are not as it were for you or your parents. Gone are the days when your parents may not have even heard of the word "degree" and you thought it to be a peripheral accomplishment in regard to your career, employment, and family life.

These days a degree for your child is like having completed kindergarten/ nursery. As they say, "A building is only as strong as its foundation!" In an ever changing world, one needs to stay ahead of the rest in order to avoid being left out, and achieve Olympian Heights. First and foremost, one needs to know what sort of career field one wishes to follow. Which is why, parents and their children who have sat the A/levels, and are sitting this month need to choose the "port of destination."

Take a moment to reflect on how you (want to) see yourself in a few years time: You just conclude an important presentation, successfully, at your workplace; "Good Job!" commends your boss, "Congratulations!" says a co-worker, several respectful pats on your shoulder, and handshakes with admiration in their eyes. All the time they wish to be in your shoes. You proudly say, "I obtained my higher educational qualifications through Singapore Informatics, one of the pioneering establishments in Sri Lanka!"

That evening you meet up with an old friend from University. The two of you reminisce about the times spent at Singapore Informatics. All the 'tension' during exam days, the adrenaline pumping through your bodies as the question paper was handed to each of you. The extreme joy each and every one of you felt on passing your terms with high colours, and finally how can you forget your Graduation Day? At Singapore Informatics we are always there for you. Finally, you are in a position in life, and your career you never thought you would achieve or come true. Hence, there are none but achievers at Singapore Informatics. Come join us and we will show you the world, and how to achieve your goals with a special care that none can match.

At Singapore Informatics, there are a minimum of three world prize winners (per term). The University of Portsmouth awarded three, 1st class degrees to its IT graduates on the IGC platform, worldwide, to the batch of 2010; Hashir Majeed, Sujith Ratnayake, and Tyronne Thomas of Singapore Informatics, Sri Lanka, were the recipients of the aforementioned 1st class degrees.

Majeed, now a Business Analyst at Mubasher, informs "What I am today is a result of three days' decision." According to Majeed, the deciding factors for enrolling in Singapore Informatics were: (flexible) course curriculum, and (obvious) future prospects; Thomas states that, many children of IT professionals he knew, were attending Singapore Informatics; the course content was highly relevant, and the courses they offered suited him.

Ratnayake adds that, he considered other options along with Singapore Informatics, but he chose this (Technology Management and Computing) degree, because he needed business knowledge as well as an IT degree. He also states that, the cost was also relatively less when compared to other institutions he had inquired. He worked full time at firms like, Ceylinco Internet Services, and Saberion in concurrence with his degree programme. Ratnayake is currently employed at Virtusa as a Project Manager.

With respect to educational standards at Singapore Informatics, all 3 former students are full of admiration for the lecturing staff for their invaluable assistance and dedication. They wish to express their gratitude to the following lecturing staff at Singapore Informatics for their tireless efforts: Mr. Fazly Jabbar, Mr. Ruvinda Ratnagoda, Mr. Mahen Jayalath, Mr. Dhanushka Muthukumarana, Ms. Chathurika Gunawardene, and Dr. Alice Good. "They took us under their wings… and went out of their way to help us" is the unanimous opinion of all 3 students.

When inquired as to the opinions on his term at Singapore Informatics, Ratnayake states that, it was not as easy for him as it was for full-time students; but, to attain 1st class degree rank, while being employed, is a challenge he triumphed over. In his final year Ratnayake scored the highest mark ever, worldwide, for the E-commerce module paper. Majeed, a proud Old Boy of St. Anthony's College (Kandy), informs, "From the beginning, most of us (in our batch) wanted to make a change…. We wanted to be the best of the best academically."

He adds that, they saw a significant improvement in the results for each of the modules since they decided to be "the change." Majeed was a Merit Student in his first 2 years of the degree programme. "Each of us would make time in our schedules to help out a fellow student in an area he/she finds challenging.... This is why, I think, our batch bagged so many merits and awards." Majeed also emerged as one of the three students who achieved rank A in Advanced Systems Development, in his final year.

Thomas, having been the Secretary and President of the Student Council says that, he really had fun and learnt a lot from his experiences at Singapore Informatics. "We organized cricket tournaments, blood donation campaigns, charity projects for the cancer hospital, and various other student based activities." He informs that, he learnt a lot about IT, and various technologies associated with it; their research topics involved self-learning techniques, and he learnt the importance of "being a part of the team." Thomas obtained merit awards each consecutive year for all three years, and was awarded world rank #1 in IADIC. His final year thesis, "Integrated Information Systems for a Chemical Laboratory" was selected as the best collaborative project by the University of Portsmouth.

Director General Manager, Sri Lanka Territory Corporate Office of Singapore Informatics, Mr. Boshan Dayaratne adds, "Singapore Informatics was commenced in 1994, as a BOI venture... 100% owned by Informatics Education Ltd.,... this is the 16th year we are running operation in Sri Lanka, completely dedicated for education." Dayaratne informs that, Informatics Education, the corporate office, which is based in Singapore, has 113 centres in 22 countries. "We have recently purchased a campus premise in the US, and are looking to purchase or set up another in Australia... NCC education, UK is totally owned by Informatics Education Ltd.," adds Dayaratne. Informatics Education is partnered with 22 universities worldwide, he states.

Singapore Informatics is one of the pioneering private educational institutes in Sri Lanka. In recent times, Singapore Informatics has faced tough competition from other relatively new institutes; but in regard to quality education, it is still at the top level, states Dayaratne. He maintains that, the quality education standards are upheld because of the fact that, all course syllabuses, exam papers, and paper marking is carried out by the Informatics Academy in Singapore, or the respective University.

The local trainers and lecturers only facilitate the students' progression of the syllabus; "They don't make papers and they don't correct them either." affirms Dayaratne. Regardless of such tough standards, a minimum of 3 students from Singapore Informatics are able to achieve world-prize winner status, in every examination result. "We don't make this as a business.... (We are a) quality education centre at a most affordable price for the public."

Students of Singapore Informatics are also active participants in all sorts of sporting events and at inter institute level too. Dayaratne includes, "Singapore Informatics, as per my knowledge, is the only private institute to participate in the Moratuwa University Robotics competitions annually." A Graduation Ball is held each year as well as an annual Christmas Party. The last Graduation Ball was held at Water's Edge, and we are planning to host it at Cinnamon Lakeside this year, reveals Dayaratne.

In regard to facilities, Dayaratne states that, apart from modern facilities, Singapore Informatics is looking to turn 2 classrooms into state-of-the-art lecture-halls which include video conferencing facilities. Apart from the physical library on premises, students of Singapore Informatics are granted an "Informatics Virtual Campus" library ID card, which gives access to millions of journals, periodicals, and related information sources. Singapore Informatics also maintains an Engineering Laboratory, as well as a Corporate Training Laboratory, where CCNA, Cisco and Microsoft training programmes can be run.

Singapore Informatics offers world class degree programmes in IT, Business, and Engineering. Students who enrol have a chance to obtain a global qualification at a local price. Registrations for the September intake are currently taking place. Call 269 9898 for further details. The new campus is conveniently located at: 519, T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka.