PROF. DAYANTHA WIJEYESEKERA ASSUMES TVEC CHAIRMANSHIP

Professor Dayantha Wijeyesekera has been appointed as Chairman of the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) in addition to the Honorary Office of Chancellor of the University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the recommendation of Vocational Training Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Prof. Wijeyesekera has been instrumental in drafting parliamentary bills for both aforementioned organisations while he was secretary to the ministry and Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri

Lanka (OUSL) and Moratuwa University for a total unprecedented period of 15 years. He has been the President/chairman of four professional bodies and a fellow of five professional bodies both local and international.

He counts it as a humble privilege to have been appointed as head of the institution by all seven executive heads of the country from J.R. Jayawardena in 1985 to Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2020.

His main interest is in developing alternate routes for career development through tertiary education as he has paved the way for many to proceed up to quality-assured mid and university degree level education recognised by professional bodies as well as for gainful employment. His main concern is that relevant parties should promote such avenues in addition to conventional systems so as to make use of underutilised facilities and allay frustration among school leavers.

He emphasises that information of such avenues could be sought from TVEC, OUSL and the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA). He further stresses the need to have mid-level qualified personnel in various disciplines of study as they proceed up the ladder to a degree and above.