Hakeem says Quality Assurance and Accreditation Commission to be set up

A Quality Assurance and Accreditation Commission will be set up soon to supervise the higher education functions in Sri Lanka, SLMC Leader, Minister of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education Rauff Hakeem said in Colombo on  26 March.

The Minister was inaugurating the 15th International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Biennial Conference, held at the BMICH, Colombo.

The Conference, was hosted by the University Grants Commission with the support of the Ministry of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education.

The Conference theme this year is ‘Quality Assurance, Qualifications and Recognition: Fostering Trust in a Globalised World’. The Conference objective was to provide a trusted and quality platform for knowledge sharing on some current and pertinent issues for all QA agencies which will be confronted in the plenary sessions.

The Chief Guest was President Maithripala Sirisena, while the Guest of Honour was Minister Hakeem. 

Mohan Lal Grero MP, Former State Minister of Higher Education, Secretary to Ministry of Higher Education Priyantha Mayadunne, UGC Chairman Prof. Mohan De Silva, Vice Chairman Prof. P. S. M. Gunaratne, and representatives from foreign universities, vice chancellors of local universities, and other dignitaries were also present.

Explaining the importance of such a commission, Hakeem said there was a time when some form of resistance to such a commission existed about 10 years ago, since the people felt an external threat to the local needs of the students. It has now been realised that external influences and exchange of foreign expertise would broaden the vision of the aim of education and could bear quality fruits to educate the nation, the Minister said. 

The proposed commission, he said, would set up accreditation agencies that would ensure the quality of education provided by the foreign universities through the local institutions.

“Our human index indicators, such as birth rate, life expectancy and literacy rates, are far better compared to other countries in the region,” the Minister said, pointing out that progressive measures could help Sri Lanka provide quality education and help produce academic degrees in keeping with international standards. 

“Our teaching and learning should be made more modern in keeping with the changing trends towards the digital world,” Hakeem said, stressing on learner-centred teaching and outcome-based education. The new approach in modern education is that academic excellence be combined with the development of socio-emotional skills to face the 21st century successfully, so the country will have a blended digital-based learning with online e-learning methods integrated onsite face-to-face interaction with students.