Business Education

BCS, Education Ministry tie-up to train 10,000 students

Hathoon Sheriffdeen

Professionals in this country have to work for the development of the country. We encourage Sri Lankan students who are qualified under the British Computer Society to develop the IT industry of the country, membership and Professional Director, The British Computer Society (BCS), John Orton said.

"Very often these students in UK work in odd jobs, It is a much demanding profession in Sri Lanka. IT professionals have enough jobs in the country. There is a great demand for IT professionals in the world too, he said.

"We spoke with Ministers connected to education and technological development on building a trained qualified resources in IT. The Education Ministry expects us to train 10,000 students in Sri Lanka on a project. We will be taking action to train them,' he said.

"Our qualification is a British based qualification recognised by 50 universities in UK. In Sri Lanka, the University of Colombo and Moratuwa allow our students to join their MBA courses too, Orton said.

BCS memberships range from membership to chartered scientist.

To obtain a membership from BCS, professionals do not have to be students of BCS, they can be qualified and hold five years experience in the field of IT.

'We already have nine fellowship members in Sri Lanka. We are also looking forward to increase the fellowship in Sri Lanka,' he said.

"Our courses are popular in cities like Colombo, Kandy and Galle. We are trying to move out and work around the island in future. Since our qualification has high demand in the labour market, most of our students, who are qualified under BCS have found jobs just after their graduation.

The Sri Lankan regional office of the BCS has a job bank as well. Regional Manager, BCS Sri Lanka, Niranjala Weerasinghe said.

"We have students from schools within the age of 16 to 18. We also conduct a courses to the students of Trinity Collage Kandy. MIIT, who is a partner company of BCS provide the facility of Lectures to this project. We are also asked to give career guidance sessions to students in other schools very often, she said.

"This year there are 173 students, who have graduated from BCS, 500 students get through their courses in all three levels per year," Weerasinghe said.

CIM join hands with ACCA to educate marketers on finance

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Sri Lanka Region, in association with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Sri Lanka has organized a training programme titled "Financial Tools to be a Successful Manager" under the CIM Market Interest Group programme, which will be held today from 8.30 to 2.00 p.m. at Salon Orchid, Galadari Hotel. This programme will be conducted by Hasitha Premarathna.

It is widely accepted that, non-finance managers should have a fair knowledge of finance in addition to the expertise required of them in their respective fields of specialisation.

Therefore, the objective of the programme is to enlighten marketers on some of the important aspects of finance, which will complement their knowledge of other organisational functions while enabling them to be more effective in decision making, as the value drivers of organisations.

The programme is designed to give an insight into primary financial statements; i.e. the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, including the objectives and basic elements of financial statements, key accounting concepts and analysis of financial performance.

Premarathna is currently the Head of Corporate Finance at Brandix Lanka and a renowned lecturer attached to many institutes and universities in the country. He possesses a great deal of experience in the fields of capital markets, economics, strategic finance, management, research and information and communication technology, having worked as the Head of Research at HNB Stockbrokers.

Premarathna holds an MBA in International Finance from Oxford Brookes University - UK and a B.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Colombo. He is also an Associate Member of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - UK, the Society of Certified Management Accountants and a Fellow Member of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) - UK.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sri Lanka Region has initiated several programmes with the objective of enhancing the value created to its members and drive excellence in the marketing profession of the country.

High flyers receive Dialog merit scholarships

Dialog Telekom has awarded Sri Lanka's top scorers at the local Ordinary Level examinations with Dialog merit scholarships.

The new batch of scholars gathered at the Ministry of Education Auditorium on November 1 for the awards ceremony, held under the distinguished patronage of Minister of Education Susil Premjayanth.

Over the past years, Dialog Telekom has proven to be a leader in pursuing the cause of improving education for Sri Lankan youth. Students from the 25 districts benefit through its scholar initiatives, receiving support to pursue higher studies at secondary and tertiary levels.

"Corporates have an important part to play in the development of the country and the efforts Dialog has taken in supporting students to bridge the digital divide through its initiatives focusing on education, are to be applauded", said Minister of Education, Susil Premjayanth, MP.

Dialog Telekom's Group Chief Corporate Officer Mothilal De Silva said, "Each year Dialog Telekom along with the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission in Sri Lanka identifies the best performing students in the country, at the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations.

These students are trained in soft skills in addition to the scholarships, to ensure that they experience holistic development not limited only to academia".

Scholarships are awarded to the top 30 students who qualify to follow mathematics at secondary level, as well as the top 25 students who qualify to pursue undergraduate university degrees in the field of Engineering (Electronics, Electrical, and Computer), two of them who are sponsored to attend the prestigious Multi Media University in Malaysia.

Two additional scholarships are also awarded at undergraduate level to differently-abled students as per the criteria laid down by the University Grants Commission.

Secretary of Education, Ariyarathna Hewage said, "Dialog Telekom has acted beyond the narrow objective of profit making and supports scholarship at multiple levels, ranging from O/L upto foreign degree programmes".

Dialog Scholar Pradeepa Hansani, who received a scholarship at the ceremony added that investing in students was a great support to the future development of the country.

Dialog Telekom's Corporate Responsibility practice focuses on reaching out to all segments of society regardless of demographic disparity, to enrich the nation through inclusion. The company is committed to serving the nation in support of national development goals through its community outreach initiatives while maintaining highest ethics in operational spheres by good governance.

The best practices imbued through its Corporate Responsibility initiatives have earned Dialog three consecutive World GSM awards.