A staggering Rs. 9 billion worth of foreign currency is being sent annually by a certain local agent re-presenting a cluster of Australian universities for the education of 3000 students who study in Australia, BOI Chairman Dhammika Perera said yesterday.
Addressing a news briefing at the Information Department he said the local representative must send Rs. 27 billion worth of foreign currency – Rs. 3 million each- for 3000 students by the time they complete their 3 year degree programmes.
“This is only a fraction of the drain of foreign currency to indicate the amount Sri Lanka loses when our students go abroad to study,” Mr. Perera said.
Justifying the BOI’s decision to give approval to establish a private medical college ‘The Higher Education Institute’ at Malabe by the South Asian Institution of Technology and Management, he said the College will provide training to students in collaboration with the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Acadamy in Russia.
“All students enrolled would be from GCE O/L qualified students and academic staff will be recruited from foreign professionals.
The degree offered to students will be from the Novgorod University.
If a medical degree holder wants to practice in Sri Lanka, he or she must follow the guidelines and regulations of the Sri Lanka Medical Council and sit the exam under clause 17,” Mr. Perera stressed.
There will be no government involvement in establishing the College. But the country will benefit when a considerable amount of foreign currency remains within. The benefit to parents and students when they obtain a foreign degree studying in Sri Lanka would be that, they can obtain the degree in their own country with only 30% of the expenses they would have spent abroad, he stressed.
The local university system is not in a position to enroll the entire number students who qualified for university enrolment at the GCE O/L students who get through the GCE A/L get the opportunity to enroll for university education. We can’t see any injustice in giving a chance to thousands of students to continue their studies in a private university within their own country. Besides, the move is a blessing to the economy when the amount of foreign currency involved is considered,” MR Perera emphasized.
DM
Addressing a news briefing at the Information Department he said the local representative must send Rs. 27 billion worth of foreign currency – Rs. 3 million each- for 3000 students by the time they complete their 3 year degree programmes.
“This is only a fraction of the drain of foreign currency to indicate the amount Sri Lanka loses when our students go abroad to study,” Mr. Perera said.
Justifying the BOI’s decision to give approval to establish a private medical college ‘The Higher Education Institute’ at Malabe by the South Asian Institution of Technology and Management, he said the College will provide training to students in collaboration with the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Acadamy in Russia.
“All students enrolled would be from GCE O/L qualified students and academic staff will be recruited from foreign professionals.
The degree offered to students will be from the Novgorod University.
If a medical degree holder wants to practice in Sri Lanka, he or she must follow the guidelines and regulations of the Sri Lanka Medical Council and sit the exam under clause 17,” Mr. Perera stressed.
There will be no government involvement in establishing the College. But the country will benefit when a considerable amount of foreign currency remains within. The benefit to parents and students when they obtain a foreign degree studying in Sri Lanka would be that, they can obtain the degree in their own country with only 30% of the expenses they would have spent abroad, he stressed.
The local university system is not in a position to enroll the entire number students who qualified for university enrolment at the GCE O/L students who get through the GCE A/L get the opportunity to enroll for university education. We can’t see any injustice in giving a chance to thousands of students to continue their studies in a private university within their own country. Besides, the move is a blessing to the economy when the amount of foreign currency involved is considered,” MR Perera emphasized.
DM
