New engineering faculties would be opened in the Colombo, Jaffna, Kelaniya and Sri Jayewardenepura universities in the coming years to cope with the engineers shortage in the country, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairperson, Prof. S. S. M. K. Kshanika Hirimburegama said.
Addressing an MoU signing ceremony to introduce a local engineering degree under the newly founded Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC) at the UGC auditorium in Colombo, Prof. Hirimburegama said that Sri Lanka was facing a severe shortage of engineers in view of the country’s rapid development since the end of the war.
Opening up new engineering faculties would also tempt more students to study engineering subjects, she added.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of University of Colombo Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama said that plans were underway to establish a virtual campus of the Colombo University in Hambantota by 2016 to provide more technological education for students.
Unlike the traditional subjects, modern and practical subjects would be available in those universities to produce more engineers, he added.
Statistics revealed that there was a growing demand for engineers in the fields of industrial, thermal and power, naval and marine engineering, he said.
According to the Higher Education Ministry, at present, Moratuwa, Ruhuna, Peradeniya and South Eastern universities have engineering faculties. The Moratuwa University annually produced only 125 civil engineers and 100 information technology engineers.
There are also plans to expand the existing engineering faculties in the country.
At present, engineering, physical science, computer science, Information and Communication Technology, Transport and Logistics, Statistics and Mathematical Finance, Management and Information Technology are some engineering courses available at national universities.Source - Island
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