12th Intake of BIT Degree of University of Moratuwa Industry-ready Graduates from OpenArc Industrial Campus
‘Industrial Campus’ with ‘Work First, Degree Next’ motto was a pioneering concept of OpenArc that was introduced 25 years ago when OpenArc commenced the operations of our software development company and the IT school under one roof. This is the best way to produce the most practical industry-ready graduates for software development companies around the world. Even for today, we are the only Industrial campus in Sri Lanka under one roof where students are given the opportunity to mix with our senior software engineers and engage themselves in practical, high-end software development projects that are undertaken by our software development company. Furthermore, at our IT school, we engage our most senior software Engineers as lecturers so that students’ get early experience to software development tools, technologies, software development methodologies and project management artefacts and processes. It is a unique working environment created with many added values for our students travelling to Colombo from many geographical locations and communities in Sri Lanka; Daya Hettiarachchi, the Founder Chairman and CEO of OpenArc Group addressed it in a launching ceremony of 12th Intake of BIT degree of University of Moratuwa.
Taking IT education to masses of school leavers in our country is an essential requirement of the country’s development process. However, this has become an uphill task because of inherent barriers such as lack of Content, Teachers, Infrastructure, English language and the financial support. As a result, IT education has become a privilege to a segment of the society in any part of the world causing a digital divide between ‘have’s and ‘have not’s access to IT education.
As a solution to this problem, prestigious University of Moratuwa has designed an external degree programme that is delivered through partner organizations. The University has designed and developed the syllabi and course content. The assignments, examinations and practical tests are conducted by the University and the degree is awarded by the University of Moratuwa. OpenArc Industrial Campus as a Partner to BIT degree programme, conducts lectures according to the curriculum set by the University and provide facilities to conduct practical tests.
OpenArc Campus, the education arm of the OpenArc group works hand in hand with the University of Moratuwa as a partner to this national endeavor. The Chairman of OpenArc, Daya Hettiarachchi, who counts over thirty years of experience in the ICT industry quoted, “we are dedicated to IT education from the inception, way back in 1991 and we have produced a large number of IT Professionals over the past twenty five years, not only for the parent company, OpenArc Systems Management which is one of the leading software houses in the country but also, to the entire IT industry as a whole”.
OpenArc Campus believes, education is ‘Developing Heads, Hands and Hearts’ all together. Purpose of education is not passing the exams but producing well-disciplined human beings with knowledge, values and problem solving capabilities. At OpenArc, we believe in imparting up-todate, state-of-the-art technology knowledge (Developing Heads), and giving an opportunity to receive hands-on practical project work related to what they learn (developing Hands) is the best advantage that OpenArc students get. Without stop- ping there, we take an extra effort to build good values in them (developing Hearts). Hence, studying at OpenArc Campus as well as getting experience in industrial software development is a unique experience for IT students; Daya Hettiarachchi added.
There are two modes of study at OpenArc Industrial Campus ;
full time mode, conducted during weekdays, and part time mode, conducted during week-ends.
For the fulltime students, OpenArc has added several additional modules to prepare them for the industrial requirements. Those are;
Soft skills development Morale studies & Ethical values Japanese Language (to support OpenArc Systems in Japan) Industry exposure through, mini-projects Job oriented training through internships Daya Hettiarachchi also quoted “we take extra care in moulding these students, because we could offer them immediate job opportunities in our own software development house. OpenArc is the only Industrial Campus where the software development facility and the IT School are established within the same building complex. The knowledge transfer takes place between the qualified and experienced professionals in the software house and the students of the Campus. It is like, Medical students getting exposure in a Teaching Hospital during their course of study. OpenArc students get the opportunity to get involved in the practical software development process at OpenArc where, over one hundred and fifty developers are engaged in a professional software development in a CMMI level 3 international quality certified working environment, to be ‘Industry Ready’, when they graduate. There is a big demand for Sri Lankan software Engineers who know Japanese language. We conduct Japanese Language classes in our OpenArc Campus so that these students could easily find employment in our Tokyo Subsidiary.
OpenArc Campus was recognized by the University of Moratuwa, as a partner organization in the year 2014 and has taken two batches of students in the academic years of 2015 and 2016. The registration process is open for the academic year 2017, at present. The BIT degree at OpenArc Industrial Campus is the most unique, reputed and, most affordable degree that a school leaver can dream of.
OpenArc Campus partnered with the Ministry of Education in training National school teachers under the Secondary Education Modernization (SEMP) and Education for Knowledge Society Project (EKSP). They also partnered with the Ministry of Higher Education under the Distance Education Modernization Project (DEMP) and Distance Education Partnership Project (DEPP). OpenArc Campus was privileged in developing educational software for Ministry of Education under the Secondary Education Modernization Project II, (SEMP II).
The experience of OpenArc Campus, in working with state owned universities runs back to the year 2000, when the BIT of University of Colombo commenced. The Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) programme of University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) is another education programme where OpenArc Campus has performed very well and they have been ranked throughout the history, as one of the best education providers for BIT students. This is evident from the results published by UCSC at their official website www.bit.lk.
Every IT related education programme conducted by OpenArc Campus is backed by long outstanding reputation and experiences of the software arm of the group which has contributed immensely to the national economy by computerizing large number of Finance Companies and Merchant Banks using 100% Sri Lankan, ingenious software solutions designed and developed by OpenArc over last twenty-five years of their existence. OpenArc was involved in computerizing the leasing systems of Bank of Ceylon, DFCC Bank, DFCC Vardhana Bank, Seylan Bank, Seylan Merchant Bank, Peoples Leasing PLC, Singer Finance, Alliance Finance, Sinhaputhra Finance etc. In the nineties, OpenArc was the leader in stockbroking software, by computerizing eleven out of fifteen stockbrokers. The latest addition to their clientele is the ‘Colombo Stock Exchange’, where OpenArc is entrusted with implementation of a Business Intelligence (BI) software solution for data analytics.
“We will continue to develop the best Sri Lankan software solutions for the global corporates around the world and the rapidly developing modern consumer markets as well, including series of mobile Apps that will be made available very soon for anyone to download and use for their dayto-day needs. Our students will have the first-hand experience in all these software development projects which is unmatchable compared to any other institution in Sri Lanka”; Daya Hettiarachchi concluded with his unique offer to students at OpenArc Industrial Campus.
The application for the BIT degree programme can be obtained from www.codl.lk web site or visiting our premises at No. 120, High Level Road, Kirulapone, Colombo 06. Contact details: 0112 515 050/ 0727 223300/ 0722 353 004 www.openarc.edu.lk / info@openarc.edu.lk