Sri Lanka University News: Foreign University Bill in House soon-Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka University News: Foreign University Bill in House soon-Sri Lanka: "By: Dinesh De Alwis Courtesy: Daily News The much anticipated, Foreign University Bill would be presented to Parliament withi..."

Japura University Students surrounded VC

Students of the Sri Jayawardenepura University,Sri Lanka have reportedly surrounded Vice Chancellor N.L.A. Karunaratna’s office building short while ago. Group of students have surrounded the administrative building following an announcement made by VC that he will not be issuing Mahapola scholarships.

About 700 students of Sri Jayawardenapura University held the Vice Chancellor N.L.A.Karunaratne under house arrest. Inter-university Students’ Union Convener Sanjeewa Bandara said that the VC has decided to halt Mahapola scholarship payments.

Foreign University Bill in House soon-Sri Lanka

By: Dinesh De Alwis              Courtesy: Daily News

The much anticipated, Foreign University Bill would be presented to Parliament within the next two months after going through the Legal Draftsman.

Cabinet has sanctioned the Bill and it has been sent to the Legal Draftsman, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told the Daily News. "Legal drafts and translation of the Bill are currently under preparation and would be shortly presented to Parliament", he said.

The new Bill which regulates and monitors foreign universities has been titled "Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Qualification Framework Bill".

He further said that up to now the ministry has received applications from 10 universities expressing their interest to set up foreign universities in Sri Lanka.

Universities from USA, Japan, UK, Russia, China, India and Australia have shown a keen interest in setting up Medical, IT, Engineering and Management Universities in Sri Lanka.

Several institutions are already under construction and these universities will launch their academic activities once the Bill is passed.

Those universities are planning to set up universities in areas such as Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Puttalam he said.

Every year, around 10,000 students from Sri Lanka migrate to foreign countries spending over 12 billion.

The ministry has taken measures to offer local students 20 percent of the slots in those foreign universities.