Faculty of Education of Open Uni. celebrates ninth anniversary on Friday

The Faculty of Education of the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) will ceremonially celebrates its ninth anniversary on 3 February.

A function is organised for this purpose at the new conference hall of the university. Emeritus Prof. Swarna Jayaweera would be the Chief Guest and Prof. Upali Vidanapathirana, the Vice Chancellor of the OUSL would be the Guest of Honour.

A special event planned for the celebrations is the discussion by a panel of eminent academics on ‘The role of Sri Lankan universities in developing the knowledge hub.’ The members of the discussion panel are Prof. Sunil Chandrasiri, the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo, Prof. Gihan Dias of Dept of Computer Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Prof. Kalinga Tudor Silva of the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, and Dr T.A Piyasiri, Director Genaral,Teriary and Vocational Education Commission. Emeritus Professor Chandra Gunawardana is expected to chair the panel discussion.

The third volume of the Sinhala educational magazine named ‘Adeeksha’ and the second volume of the Tamil educational magazine named ‘Paaravi’ published by the Faculty of Education would be released as part of the celebrations. These magazines contain academic articles on the status of the educational system of Sri Lanka, the current issues and problems, new challenges as well as articles on the application of educational theories.

The Faculty of Education of the OUSL celebrates its ninth anniversary with these educational activities with the intention of becoming the leader in providing educational knowledge, skills and professional practices through the mode of open and distance Education and thereby and strongly committing to the national development of Sri Lanka.

The Faculty of Education of the OUSL consists of three departments namely, Departments of Secondary and Tertiary Education (STE), Early Childhood and Primary Education (ECPE) and Special Needs Education (SNE). The Department of STE is the oldest and the largest department of the Faculty and it conducts a majority of the programmes run by the Faculty. Out of them, the most popular programme with the highest demand is the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programme.

The Department of ECPE conducts programmes on Pre-school Education and Early Childhood and Primary Education. Out of those programmes, the most popular one is the Certificate in Pre-School Education.

The programmes conducted by the Department of SNE are mainly for teachers whose work involve children with special needs such as learning difficulties.

These programmes and courses which are meant for learners who expect to obtain higher education through the distance mode, range from the certificate level to the doctoral level. The Faculty programmes are conducted at 20 OUSL regional and study centres islandwide catering to a student population exceeding 7000 at present.

The Faculty of Education, the youngest of the four Faculties of the OUSL, consists of a well qualified academic staff and a dedicated non –academic staff led by Prof (Mrs.) G.D Lekamge, the Dean of the Faculty.

The Faculty’s ambition is to make strong contribution to the education system of Sri Lanka in its march towards development. On this special occasion, all those who contributed to the development of the Faculty, over the years are gratefully remembered.