Reaching the top in any industry is difficult. However staying at the top consistently and maintaining the position is impossible. However that is exactly what Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi has proven for the last eleven years of lecturing. Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi commenced the journey of lecturing from systems and project Management which was a new subject for CIMA in 2000. The new subject created the emergence of a new lecturer who later went on to change CIMA lecturing to a different level in Sri Lanka and also reaching world class performance.

Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi

The Systems and project Management subject was the most difficult in the entire CIMA syllabus. The pass rate on the first session in Sri Lanka was 3%. Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi single handedly reversed the trend over a shorter period of time through innovative teaching, commitment, dedication and passion. The initiatives such as Mock exams under real conditions at BMICH, Providing prototype examination booklets, Development of a specialized marking guide, personalized marking of papers, One-to-one discussion & personalized reporting was introduced for the first time in Sri Lanka.

This created a new beginning in CIMA education in Sri Lanka with a different style and technique. The unique approach applied by Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi was quickly recognised by all the students in Sri Lanka. This created an unprecedented demand for the Systems and project Management (SPM) subject where students all over the country reaching for his class.

The SPM subject was replaced by Integrated Management and in the present syllabus it is called Enterprise Management (EM). This earned a nick name for Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi as SPM Gajendra in the CIMA industry. However this was short lived because he was offered another subject. The second subject ORG (Organisational Management) further established the position of Mr. Gajendra in CIMA Industry. In the first session itself he produced a World prize for the ORG subject with a world record where the student obtained 96 marks. This is the highest ever for a theory subject.

This was a personal milestone for Mr. Gajendra in lecturing for the ORG subject since he faced many difficulties from the start. Many people predicted that he will fail in ORG subject since it involves theory. SPM was a case-study therefore no theory was involved. This created the rationale for criticism. Mr. Gajendra was provided the opportunity because the main lecturer was not available after one month of the session. There were 150 students under the first lecturer but when Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi took over most of the students left and joined elsewhere due to the negative issues created by people. The final number in the class was eventually reduced to 40 students. However every student who remained passed the exam through the guidance and the commitment of the lecturer.

The world prize despite all the criticism clearly indicated natural justice and recognition of truth, honesty and integrity. This is the hallmark of the approach followed by Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi & is continued with great pride.

This enabled Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi to establish his authority in the CIMA industry by lecturing for Strategic Level and TOPCIMA. He was able to reach the top in whatever the subject due to the approach which is focused on passing the student. The Sri Lankan students over a period of time recognised the influence of Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi.

In the past Sri Lankan students were not recognised for writing subjects (Theory) compared with CIMA international results. Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi reversed this trend by producing a world prize for TOPCIMA. The student obtained 87 marks and was the highest ever in the subject. This is the final stage of CIMA which requires the student to write a report for 100 marks as a consultant. Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi used all his experience at corporate level in the commercial sector and his experience in teaching English as a support for developing his lecturing style in improving the writing skills of each individual student. The TOPCIMA world prize student along with another two students missed the first mock exam held at BMICH. Mr. Gajendra maintains a track record of each student, through which three students were identified for not participating in the Mock exam. They were requested to do the first mock again. The world prize winning student was one of them. This was the main reason for generating the world's best result.

Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi along with Mr. Faris Ismail was instrumental in obtaining CIMA quality partnership to Sri Lanka. The CIMA Quality Partnership requires a particular institute to maintain a lecturing procedure specified by CIMA. Sri Lanka did not have a CIMA institute with quality partnership at that time. The assessor who conducted the audit was surprised by the quality standard maintained by Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi. The assessor clearly indicated that the standard maintained by Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi was well above the CIMA UK standard and recognised his effort in the assessment report. A Sri Lankan institute was awarded the CIMA quality partnership for the first time. The CEO of the institute at that time was Mr. Faris Ismail where Mr. Gajendra was the Director Student Development.

This justified the commitment and passion for lecturing. In 2005 Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi established his own institute Virtual Business School. Virtual Business School immediately established its position in the CIMA industry with excellent exam results. CIMA UK recognizing the contribution of Mr. Gajendra awarded the Prestigious CIMA Tutor of the Year award in 2006. This was the first time a Sri Lankan lecturer was presented with the award. This was a clear milestone for CIMA in Sri Lanka. A Sri Lankan lecturer was considered as the Best in the world for the first time in the history of CIMA education .In 2010 Virtual business school commenced business in its own building which was a BOI project with an investment of US$ 1.5 million. This comprises of state of art facilities with modern equipment and lecturing aid at Borella. This new building clearly justifies the quality of CIMA education in Sri Lanka with world class facilities for students and best lecturing in the world.

Virtual Business school new building is at the heart of Colombo standing tall signifying the presence of Quality CIMA Education in Sri Lanka. This signifies a humble journey which commenced through a passion for lecturing and dedication.

Today Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi signifies a land mark achievement in CIMA education by comprehensively completing the syllabus in August and commencing the revision for November 2011 CIMA exam on the 2nd of September. A remarkable achievement since the students would be immensely benefitted from a comprehensive revision program spanning almost three months.
In practice Mr. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi commences revision in October for the November examination. This session the revision will commence in September, a clear full month in advance. This is hard to believe but true. New Gajendra has clearly beaten old Gajendra. This was largely due to the additional facilities available at Virtual Business School with technological advancement such as the board less class room.The following benefits are available for students for November 2011 session.

Strategic Level common case study
Strategic Level common case study revision will commence on the 2nd of September. This will commence with a strategic analysis of the May 2011 Immediate exam paper. All three subjects ES, PS, FS will commence revision with the May 2011 paper. This will enable the students to clearly understand the nature of the common case study and how to integrate three different subjects at the same context. The common case study is the most important area in the exam which contributes to 50% of the marks.
The comprehensive revision program will include special classes for the common case study for the November 2011. The students will be immensely benefitted through the integrative approach since in the exam a student has to face a common case study for all the three subjects.

Enterprise Operation
This is the first subject which tests the writing ability of the student. This is different from the other subjects at the same level since this test the analytical and writing skills. There will be no one correct answer for most of the questions. The marks are allocated based on the quality of the argument and the structure of the answer. This requires a higher level skill which has to be developed in class with a higher focus on business English. The students commence studies for this subject immediately after the certificate level which is computer based assessment. Therefore the students have to be trained with a futuristic plan to develop the writing skills which is the core element of exam success especially in higher stages. Mr. Gajendra has specifically designed a revision program to improve the writing skills directly targeting the exam requirement. This comprise of continuous assessment of mock exams to ensure a clear pass.

Enterprise Management
This subject requires higher level skills considering managing an organization. The basis for the subject is provided through EO. This subject will be extended with the addition of practical knowledge as Enterprise Strategy at the Strategic Level. The students will immensely benefit with the continuation of conceptual education on all these three interconnected subjects with Mr. Gajendra. This will enable the students to improve the writing skills as well as the application from operational level to TOPCIMA Level.
In EM the most difficult aspect is memorizing and integrating the subject knowledge based on a vast syllabus area. This introduces strategic management and the core principles of strategy for the first time as learning. Strategic management is a vast and a complicated area in any form of study in management.

Mr. Gajendra has developed a unique approach in teaching strategy combining his qualification and experience in the academic and professional education with the practical business acumen developed over a decade. The complex principles of strategy are applied through Neuro linguistic programming technique simplified by Mr. Gajendra through his extensive study and research on education.
A special program is designed for November 2011 to enhance student knowledge, memory and exam oriented intellectual capacity enhancement to pass the student in EM successfully.

TOPCIMA
This is the final exam of CIMA. This requires a student to analyse a potential business scenario and recommend a possible future strategy for a business. The student has to be trained as a consultant or a management accountant to recommend strategy to the top management. Mr. Gajendra provides a clear insight to the case with a detailed analysis of all the possible scenarios of a given business. This process includes 10 mock exams for students. This will enable a student to start as an amateur and develop to the level of a consultant in business. Mr. Gajendra has already completed the strategic analysis of the November 2011 session for TOPCIMA.

The mock exam session will commence from 4th of September spanning for two and a half months. This will ensure a clear pass for every student due to continuous assessment and individualized evaluation.

The message is clear. Pass November 2011 CIMA exams with Mr. Gajendra. This provides a great opportunity for students to achieve excellent results through a comprehensive revision commencing from September 2nd to November.