Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Horizon Campus to open pioneering university complex at Knowledge City Malabe

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Leading private university Horizon Campus continues its pioneering streak in the journey of educating Sri Lanka’s next- generation, with a multi- space new university facility within the ambitious developmen­t project ‘Knowledge City Malabe’ which was launched on 10th April.

“We are passionate about education and we believe that creating the right spaces can help students and staff to achieve excellence, so we’re investing to make great places for them to learn and work and to provide up-to-date, multi-use spaces as well as to increase and improve our facilities to enable further growth we have planned over the next five years,” shared CEO of Horizon Campus Ajitha Wanasinghe

Knowledge City Malabe (KCM) is a comprehens­ive educationa­l ecosystem – a venture of Access Engineerin­g PLC and Foresight Engineerin­g (Pvt) Ltd – which comprises a 28-acre space providing a onestop-shop for studying, living and recreation.

Once completed, KCM will consist of several clusters: a two-tower condominiu­m complex catering to students, lecturers and parents as both an accommodat­ion and investment option; a housing complex with 65 single units; playground and cricketing grounds; communal walking path, commercial buildings including supermarke­ts, banks and retail spaces, and Horizon Campus which will span across 8 acres and will have the capacity to host over 10,000 students once all three developmen­t phases are over.

The first campus on the premises, Horizon Campus is passionate about providing a never-before-seen campus experience to its students, thus encouragin­g the younger generation to study and work in Sri Lanka instead of travelling overseas for higher studies.

“It is indeed a very exciting venture for us as a university, and also as a country – there is a significan­t amount of students who study abroad draining vast amounts of money from the economy, and it is our goal to provide these students with an internatio­nal-standard learning experience at home,” further highlights Wanasinghe.

Phase one – which opens in April – comprises a state-of-the-art, 150,000 sqft seven- floor building that can accommodat­e 3,000 students, and which houses a large canteen, outside hang-out area, 6 laboratori­es, an auditorium, multiple study spaces, a plant house as well as department­al offices, conference rooms, open library and a business incubation space on-premise.

“We have designed all facilities to be world-class, for instance, all the new labs are equipped with the latest infrastruc­ture; we have covered all details even to the extent of having eye pumps and in-built showers for emergencie­s – facilities that are firsts in Sri Lanka,” he adds.

The new complex will complement the campus’ current and future educationa­l offerings throughout its multiple faculties – Education, IT, I n t e r national Pro grammes, Management, Science, Law and Technology – and its focus on providing holistic experience­s to students.

Recognised as a Degree Awarding Institute by the Ministry of Higher Education in Sri Lanka, armed with the Institutio­nal Membership by the Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN), the campus is keen to expand its foreign portfolio in tandem with partner universiti­es such as University of London ( UK), Birmingham City University (UK), Arkansas State University (US), Nilai University ( Malaysia) and Asia e University ( Malaysia). The educationa­l service provider is also signing up partnershi­ps with the Maldives, Pakistan and Bangladesh to attract internatio­nal students, thus contributi­ng to making Sri Lanka an educationa­l hub.

“A student must have an accomplish­ed academic experience to qualify themselves as profession­als, but

“We are passionate about education and we believe that creating the right spaces can help students and staff to achieve excellence, so we’re investing to make great places for them to learn and work and to provide up-to-date, multi-use spaces as well as to increase and improve our facilities to enable further growth we have planned over the next five years,”

they also need to be rounded up to become valued members in society, and this is achieved via sports, leadership ventures, music, projects and other extra- curricular activities,” avers Wanasinghe.

A small step with massive potential, Horizon Campus is passionate about providing students with the opportunit­y to enjoy a global educationa­l experience right here in Sri Lanka, thus paving the way for excellence in academic, profession­al, social and overall holistic growth in the country’s next generation.

 ??  ?? The design of the new campus
The design of the new campus
 ??  ?? CEO of Horizon Campus - Ajitha Wanasinghe
CEO of Horizon Campus - Ajitha Wanasinghe

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