Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sri Lanka University News: Sri Lanka Non-academic university staff demands sa...

Sri Lanka University News: Sri Lanka Non-academic university staff demands sa...: "After the Sri Lankan government agreed to grant university lecturer's pay demands,Sri Lanka University Executive Officers' Association and ..."

Sri Lanka Non-academic university staff demands salary increase

After the Sri Lankan government agreed to grant university lecturer's pay demands. Sri Lanka University Executive Officers' Association and the Inter University Federation of University Non-academic Staff are in discussions now to initiate a joint trade union action demanding salary increases similar to the salary increase university academics received.

The Chairman of the University Executive Officers' Association Jayalath Muttettuwegedara says that the University Grants Commission, the Minister of Higher Education and the President have been informed of their demands.

The official argued that all non-academic staffs of the universities should also be granted the salary increases in same percentages. He urged the authorities to rectify the salary anomalies in line with the circular number 879 of the University Grants Commission.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Sri Lanka University Teachers Suspend Trade Union Action

Sri Lanka University Teachers decided to suspend their trade union action that was lasting for two months. Sri Lanka Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) announced that the government had agreed to grant an interim solution to the salary issue of the university academics.

The Association met with government's officials to discuss their demands. The government had accepted two points of the three-point set of proposals and the FUTA decided to suspend the trade union action in response to the government's decision.

The FUTA had proposed that the salary of a senior professor be increased from 57,000 to 120,000 rupees and the salary of a junior lecturer from 27,000 to 70,000 rupees.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Special English, IT and Soft Skills programme (POP) for University Students

Special English, IT and Soft Skills development programme would be commence from today (July 20) for new university entrants. The Program has named The Pre-orientation Programme(POP) and will be held at 300 Centers islandwid. Higher Education Ministry has planned to launch the course district levels and students can join the nearest center.

The programme will be held in two phases and the pre-examination session are now online. The examination will be held till July 29 for the second batch. More information can be obtained after accessing www.pop.nodes.lk website.

The objective of the program is to help university students to enhance English language proficiency and IT before entering in to the university.

Laptops for Sri Lankan University entrants

Dinesh DE ALWIS

The Higher Education Ministry will provide laptops to all new university entrants from this academic year. The proposed programme will be launched from next month, Higher Education Ministry secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha told the SLUN.

“A laptop with internet facilities will be provided at a concessionary rate or under a special loan. Students can pay back the loan after they have completed their degree or while doing a job. All commercial banks have agreed to provide loan facilities to students,” he said.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

English, IT course for Sri Lankan University Entrants

The Higher Education Ministry will launch a special English and IT course for new university entrants on July 20. The new programme has named "Pre-Orientation Programme"(POP) and it  will be held at 300 centres islandwide.
The ministry has planned to launch the course at district level and students can join the nearest centre, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said.
The course has been designed and coordinated by the Colombo University, Kelaniya University, Presidential Programme Unit(PPU) and British Council. Professors, lecturers, teachers andinstructors will conduct the English course.


“The course is scheduled to conclude in September after which an examination will be held and students ranked. This10,000 students who are weak in English will be selected and given American scholarships,” Dr Navaratne said.
The programme’s objective is to help university students enhance their English language proficiency and IT before entering university.

External degree awarding institutes to be registered

The Higher Education Ministry has decided to register all External Degree awarding institutes soon. The ministry will select the appropriate institutes and register them as government universities' affiliated institutes.
The objective is to maintain the standard and the quality of the external degrees, said Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake yesterday. He was addressing a gathering at Panideniya Pirivena, Peradeniya. "External degree awarding institutes are mushrooming around the country without any standard.
This has affected the quality of education. Ministry will affiliate external degree awarding institutes with government universities," he said.
The minister said that the current external degree system is obsolete. Hence, external degree holders haven't proper recognition.