General Convocation of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University 2018

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University witnessed the crowning moment of achievement of the students of the 31st Intake ( 04 year degree programmes) and 32nd Intake ( 03 year degree programmes) at KDU General Convocation 2018, held on 01st and 02nd November, 2018 at the BMICH.

Fulfilling the requirement of producing tri- service officers who are not only skilled but also well informed in the defence sciences and management, the third Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala donated his personal property of 48 acres in Kandawala Estate in 1980, inclusive of its picturesque landscape and all movable and immovable property, to establish a tri-service academy.

Thereafter, giving new life to the nation and striving under a new vision, General

Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy was initiated under the Parliamentary

Act No. 61 of 1981with the noble intention of producing young officers armed with discipline and knowledge to the motherland. This task became a reality due to the intense effort of the then Commander of the Army Lieutenant General J. E. D. Perera VSV. General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy then became the centre of Defence Services Training, and as a result, by the year 1988, this Defence Academy received the status of conferring degrees to the tri- service personnel studying at this prestigious institution. Subsequently, the government understood the qualitative development the Defence Academy had achieved during the two & half decades and renamed it as General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, in 2007, uplifting Sri Lankan tri-service officer education to be on a par with that of its international counterparts. At present, this university has obtained world recognition and is a member of the Association of Commonwealth U n ive r s i t i e s and the International Association of Universities.

With 37 years of reputation in the international realm, going beyond the restriction of offering degrees to only military personnel, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University broadened its scope and opened its doors to qualified civil students in 2009 to realize their dream of obtaining a degree in a disciplined environment on a par with that of a local or international university.

While at present, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University has 6062 in- house undergraduates, both cadets and day- scholars, 1215 graduands from all faculties were conferred with degrees at this year’s convocation by Admiral Daya Sandagiri, the Chancellor of the University.

Two PhD graduands, 213 Masters graduands and Postgraduate Diploma holders from the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, and 1000 Bachelor’s Degree holders from different faculties of KDU were among the 1215 graduands who received parchments at this year’s convocation at BMICH Colombo. 2nd Lieutenant JVNL Jayasekara, Pilot Officer WASU De Costa and Sub Lieutenant CS Serasinghe were awarded as the best Cadet Officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force respectively. The trophy for the best overall performance in academic studies was awarded to the civil graduate NG Liyanarachchi. The sword of Honour for the Best All- Round Performance of Intake 31 was awarded to 2nd Lieutenant GBHP Gamlath. Hon Wijedasa Rajapaksha the Minister of Higher Education of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka graced the Fourth Session of the convocation as the Chief Guest.