Safeguarding Higher Education Excellence: A Professional Perspective on SLIIT’s Role in Sri Lanka

These days there are a lot of discussions on SLIIT in the papers and social media, most of it negative.  I have watched and listened to the lack of foresight in some of these discussions with disappointment and been dismayed at the incorrect information exchanges. It is imperative that we arm ourselves with accurate information before engaging in such discussions. Regardless of the lessor/lessee relationship between Mahapola Trust Fund and SLIIT Malabe campus, we need to take a broader view of the need which SLIIT fulfills in Sri Lanka.

With an annual enrolment of close to 5,000 students, SLIIT is a shining beacon in Sri Lanka, offering the much-needed technological degrees. Due to the limited capacity of the Sri Lankan universities many students with excellent results fail to gain admission to their desired faculties.  SLIIT fulfils this vacuum on demand for engineering and technology students while those interested in a medical degree have no choice but to seek education in a foreign university.  According to SLIIT’s website, for its initial intake capacity of 400 students in 1999, there were over 3,000 applications demonstrating this critical need. Not all parents can afford to send their children to the UK, USA, Australia, or Canada and bare the hefty differential tuition fees imposed by those countries on the international students plus living expenses for 3 to 4 years to the tune of some $40-$50K/year. 

SLIIT came into existence in the late 1990s, at a critical time when the information technology boom was in full swing in the West. Its founding members had the courage, wisdom, and the foresight to implement quality technical programs comparable to well-established universities and hire excellent staff. The quality of the programs resulted in Curtin University Australia agreeing to franchise their IT degree program to SLIIT and obtain UGC approval granted for degree awarding in Sri Lanka.  The continued demand resulted in the need to expand infrastructure and bring the institution to its current state.   It is a company limited by guarantee and re-invests the financial surpluses year after year to further enhance the opportunities available to the Sri Lankan students.  SLIIT helps Sri Lankan students to get internationally recognized degrees at modest costs compared to the alternatives, and also for the government to retain the much-needed foreign exchange in the country. 

Countries like Sri Lanka in fact need more institutions like SLIIT to serve the student population that is craving for knowledge and to keep the wealth of the country within.  Enforcing bureaucracy and promoting a misinformation campaign results only in creating a distraction and stunting of progress for an essential institute of education for the country.  I salute the efforts of the founding members of SLIIT for their wisdom, hard work, and courage to bring it to its present state with multiple campuses in major cities such as Colombo, Matara, Kandy and Jaffna. My fervent wish is that SLIIT will continue to serve in excellence to Sri Lanka’s youth, awarding internationally recognized degree programs for many more years to come.