India's Manipal University to set up branch here
The Higher Education (HE) Ministry will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Manipal University, India, next year to set up a branch of their university in Sri Lanka, offering a range of courses, a Cabinet minister said.
HE Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that, initially, Information Technology and Humanity Sciences will be introduced followed by Engineering and Medical courses. The Medical Faculties will be introduced subject to approval by the Sri Lanka Medical Council.
Manipal University located in Karnataka’s Udupi district, has more than 28,000 students from 57 countries. It also has nearly 2,500 Faculty staff and almost 10,000 support and service staff, to cater to the various professional institutions in Health Sciences, Engineering, Management, Communication and Humanities.
Minister Kiriella said the initial investment will be around Rs 11 billion and increased thereafter with the expansion of the courses.
The University is to lease out a 100-acre land in the Kalutara district to set up the university expected to commence next year.
Currently, preparations are under way for the signing of the MoU, following discussions with the university authorities.
Minister Kirella said there were plans to provide space for the establishment of more universities with priority to IT and Engineering courses.
‘Currently, all students who enter State universities are not those with the highest marks. Some of them get in because of the district quota system. Therefore, setting up more universities will provide better opportunities to those students who are 'left out'," he said.
He said that, currently, over Rs 7,000 million is drained out of the country for Education.
"The inconvenience to students too will be reduced, as they can follow their HE 'closer to home'," he added.
Manipal University has offcampuses in Mangalore and Bangalore, and offshore cam- puses in Dubai and Melaka (Malaysia). The Mangalore campus offers Medical, Dental and Nursing programmes, the Bangalore Campus in Regenerative Medicine, the Dubai campus in Engineering, Management and Architecture, and the Melaka campus in Medicine and Dentistry, according to the campus website.
The Manipal Group, a pioneer in HE services with a 60-year legacy of excellence, also owns and operates campuses in Sikkim and Jaipur in India, and in Nepal, Malaysia and Antigua, in the Caribbean.