PIM partners with Ministry of Education to upgrade educationists through MPA in Education Management

The inauguration of the Master of Public Administration Degree program in Education Management (MPA, EM) held at the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) on 2 March 2022, on a virtual platform, could be considered another pioneering venture in the country’s postgraduate management education. 

It in fact, heralded a new chapter in the country’s overall education system. The initiation of the program was the outcome of MoU entered in between PIM and the Ministry of Education on 22 December 2021. The two signatories were PIM Director Dr. Senaka Kelum Gamage and Ministry of Education Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera.

PIM Director Dr. Senaka Kelum Gamage in his welcome address emphasised that the program has been structured with the objective of enhancing the managerial and educational competencies of the relevant officials, as this move is targeted to uplift the overall education, through an impetus given to the country’s educational management. An indirect benefit would be that the qualification will serve as a means towards the carrier development of the targeted officers. Dr. Gamage said that the PIM’s MPA-EM will have far reaching consequences, as its outcome will ultimately be inspirational to its participants and impactful to the country’s education at large.   

Ministry of Education Additional Secretary of Policy Planning and Performance Review Dr. Madura Wehella, thanked the PIM for initiating and taking the lead-role in this specialised program, which will help broaden the education officials’ much needed conceptual and practical inputs. It will also serve as an entry-level qualification to further their career pursuits.  It is, thus, a shot-in-the-arm towards their much-desired career development. Dr. Wehella also mentioned that it’s the responsibility of all participants to accrue optimal benefits from the program, as the cost of the program in its entirety, is borne by the Government.

Uva Wellassa University Vice Chancellor Prof. Jayantha Lal Ratnasekara pointed out that educational administration is a complex sphere of activity with a highly specialised body of knowledge. 

Therefore, according to him, this program of study will, for certain, enable the participants to demonstrate critical awareness of fundamental and advanced aspects of educational administration, while adhering to the desired functional disciplines.  

They will also gain professional confidence in getting into grips with the realities of their profession. 

PIM Specialised Program Coordinator Jayantha Newunhella, in his final wrap up extended a warm round of thanks to all those who directly and indirectly helped in making this impactful venture the success that it deserved. He stressed that the culminating event of the program is the need to complete a guided independent study by each participant. It involves identifying and analysing a job-related problem in education. This, in fact, is the terminal benefit of the entire program, which rests on the theoretical, conceptual and pragmatic components of the course.  

PIM Senior Lecturer Tharindu Ameresekere conducted this virtual inauguration program.