Such a valuable opportunity has been created for those who are qualified in Advanced Level (A/L) Examination according to the directions of HE the President and the Hon Prime Minister for the maximum use of human capital, available resources and the vast knowledge that can be disseminated by the KDU, said the Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne (Retd).
The Defence Secretary made these remarks during a programme organized at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (August 01) to disseminate the facts behind the current discussion over the recently drafted Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Act.
The Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera and KDU Vice Chancellor Maj. Gen. Milinda Peiris were the other contributors present at the discussion at SLBC.
The student intake to the National Universities has been increased to 41,000 under the directions of the President in consultation with the Minister of Education, Secretary of the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission while a large number of A/L qualified children lose their higher education hopes.
Gen. Kamal Gunaratne while citing the large chunk of money belonging to our country flowing to the foreign countries when the children of the affluent parents are directed for their higher education in foreign universities, said some other families enroll their children into local university colleges affiliated to foreign universities through which a big amount of money is transferred to the overseas.
"However, the children of the poor families in our country deprive the avenues of fulfilling their higher education dreams due to their lack of affordability for education at foreign universities”, he said while questioning whether it is wrong to create an opportunity for the deserved section of student generation making their life a success.
Confuting the allegations leveled against the KNDU, the Defence Secretary said that the picture painted in our society over so called militarization of education at KNDU was totally wrong.
Further, referring to the world Defence Universities currently functioning, he said well-qualified and academically sound senior military officers serve as Vice Chancellors (VC) of such Defence Universities and the KDU VC too is such a qualified official who is supported by the academic staffers consisting a majority of civil scholars including the Deputy VC who is responsible for academic matters.
Accordingly, the future graduates produced by the University would be academically sound, well-disciplined scholars who possess leadership qualities, the Defence Secretary further confirmed during the discussion.
Explaining the proposed avenues to broaden the diverse higher educational opportunities in line for the A/L qualified student generation of our country, the Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera stated that “Education is a very powerful tool and every one of us has been nurtured through education”.
KDU Vice Chancellor Maj. Gen. Milinda Peiris elaborated on various stages of the evolution of the University in line with the available provisions and the procedure being observed to elevate the KDU to an internationally-recognized University similar to all other National Universities in Sri Lanka.
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