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SLTC Research University; the Official Higher Education Partner of the 144th Royal Thomian Cricket Encounter   Marking a significant milestone in its history, SLTC Research University has established a unique partnership with a rich tradition; and the world’s oldest uninterrupted schoolboy cricket match; by becoming the Official Higher Education Partner of the 144th Royal-Thomian Cricket Encounter played between Royal College, Colombo, and St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia for the prestigious D S Senanayake Trophy. The much-anticipated cricket encounter, one of the highlights in Sri Lanka’s school cricketing calendar, was played on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of March at the SSC ground Colombo.  The pioneering and exclusive partnership was announced at a press conference held on the 2nd of March during which the sponsorship cheque was officially handed over to the two heads of the institutions and the Joint Match Organizing committee.  Exhibiting its belief of sports being a critical element of enriching core human values; building confidence; and instilling resilience, SLTC entered into this landmark partnership with two of Sri Lanka’s premier boys’ schools reflecting its commitment to developing well-rounded men and women, which is at the heart of SLTC’s value system. As a university that recognizes the importance of sports and extracurricular activities for the holistic upbringing of its undergraduates, SLTC believes this partnership reflects these values and supports the university’s attempts to instill skills and attitudes that will help build resilience, team spirit, leadership skills, mutual respect, and most of all, the ability to take victory and defeat in the same spirit, in the future generations of Sri Lanka. While the partnership provides SLTC with an excellent opportunity to support and promote the sport and its values and be a part of the journey of these promising sportsmen, the university believes that the long history and the rich traditions of the Royal-Thomian Cricket Encounter reflect the university’s own sentiments of sportsmanship and what it entails for the youth of this country. SLTC is Sri Lanka’s first corporate-powered non-state research university, with a well-defined graduate profile aimed at producing a holistic multifaceted individual who would excel in both his professional and personal life. As a result, sports and extracurricular activities play an important role in the lives of those at SLTC. SLTC also to many teams excelling at diverse sporting activities including cricket and has provided several sporting facilities for the use of its community. SLTC is the first institution to become the exclusive higher education partner of the Royal-Thomian Cricket Encounter marking a memorable milestone for the university and the two schools.

A programme to introduce undergraduates of the Class of 2027 to the university, its operations, and the culture was held on the 15th of March 2023 at the SLTC TRACE Campus premises. The event was organised by the SLTC Registrar’s Office to familiarise the students who are expected to start their studies in a few weeks’ time with the university, premises, its community and academic activities. Parents of the Class of 2027 also participated at the event. The participants took part on a guided tour of the campus and the TRACE Expert City complex once the formal activities of the introductory programme were concluded.

The SLTC Research University (SLTC) was recently awarded the ISO 9001 certification for the university’s Quality Management System – (QMS) which was recognized for implementing and maintaining a QMS that meets the requirements of the ISO 9001 standards. This is a testament to SLTC’s commitment to providing high-quality education and services to its students, faculty, and community.  The certificate was awarded at an official ceremony held on the 9th of March 2023 at the SLTC Main Campus premises in Padukka. Present at the event were the Head of the Sri Lanka branch of Tuv-Nord India, Mr. Wasantha Gunaratne, Founder President & CEO of SLTC Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe, ISO Consultant Mr. Kanishka Perera, Director of Planning at SLTC Mr, Heminda Jayaweera, members of the management and faculty of the SLTC Research University. The certificated was officially received by the Founder President & CEO of SLTC Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe from Mr. Wasantha Gunaratne the Head of the Sri Lanka branch of Tuv-Nord India.  Delivering the keynote address the Founder President & CEO of SLTC Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe stressed the significance of this recognition for the continuous improvement in the education services provided by SLTC with new dimensions which can shape the future of Sri Lankan Higher Education.  ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized quality management standard that requires organizations to meet rigorous standards in areas such as leadership, customer service, and continuous improvement. It helps organisations, especially in the domain of education, to improve their quality of education, enhance their reputation, increase efficiency, and improve stakeholder satisfaction. The SLTC Research University is the country’s only corporate-powered research-based residential University. Since its inception, SLTC has developed a reputation for high standards of academic delivery and quality assurance practices in the industry. The university maintains academic and research affiliations with world-class institutions such as Auckland University New Zealand, Lancaster University UK, Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, Modul University Austria, RMIT Vietnam, and Australia, James Cook University Singapore, and Deakin University Australia. 

SLTC is one of the first non-state universities to provide on-campus accommodation to its students. While this was certainly convenient to the university’s residents, it has also helped in promoting fellowship, building a close-knit community, and transforming the university’s culture into what it is today.

Celebrating Our Alumni with the First Alumni Night The inaugural Alumni Night of SLTC was held at the Barnes Room of Jetwing Colombo Seven on the 18th of February.  Members from the classes of 2020 and 2021 took part in the event. The highlight of the evening was the appointment of committee members for the SLTC Alumni Association for the incoming year. Ms. Vishalya Panchalinee was appointed as the new president of the association. The welcome speech followed by a toast was delivered by the current president of the Alumni Association, Mr. Navod Kiriwatthuduwa. The SLTC Music school added color to the event with several wonderful performances. Did You Know? SLTC is one of the first non-state universities to provide on-campus accommodation to its students. While this was certainly convenient to the university’s residents, it has also helped in promoting fellowship, building a close-knit community, and transforming the university’s culture into what it is today.

The SLTC Research University conducted a three-day resident capacity- development programme for 124 instructors representing the National Youth Corps and the National Youth Services Council, who will be engaged in the teaching process of the recently launched Degree in Applied IT (DAIT), offered by the university at 76 study centres across the country. Conducted from 1st March – 3rd March at the SLTC main campus in Padukka, the programme was organized to help the participants understand the broader objectives of DAIT, the potential of the ICT industry both in Sri Lanka and globally and how DAIT will help prepare its students to progress into a range of careers in the field of IT. It was also an opportunity to appreciate and recognize the support rendered by the many individuals on the team whose continuous efforts had made a national initiative such as the DAIT, successful.   The Degree in Applied IT – DAIT, is a bachelor’s degree in Applied Information Technology awarded by the SLTC Research University. Conducted in partnership with the National Youth Services Council and the National Youth Corps under the guidance of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, DAIT is part of a national initiative to equip the country’s youth to pursue a range of careers in the global IT industry. Designed with the intention of training students in the practical applications of IT, the first intake of the degree programme admitted 910 applicants who had successfully completed their A/Ls in diverse categories of subjects. This enables students from any secondary education background to receive a recognised higher education qualification in IT and train as qualified professionals.  DAIT is being conducted at 76 centres across the country, by the instructors of the National Youth Corps and the National Youth Services Council with the support of the academic faculty of SLTC. Considering the uniqueness of the programme and the novelty of its learning mechanism to the Sri Lankan higher education sector, measures such as the instructor capacity-development programme were identified to be integral towards ensuring the success of the programme. The three-day training programme included several panel discussions highlighting the importance of DAIT in the current national context, its relevance to the global IT industry and the role of the instructors and their responsibility towards the undergraduates. Mr. Hasitha Liyanage , CEO of Different delivered the keynote address, speaking about the diverse opportunities available for Sri Lankan IT graduates in the global and local industries .  Presentations were made by Mr Pubudu Liyanage, Human Resources Consultant at Acumatica Inc. who stressed upon the importance of developing soft skills to succeed as a professional and Mr Sampath Jayasundara, CEO, hSenid who also stressed upon the lucrativeness of the IT industry for qualified graduates. The programme concluded with an award ceremony where several individuals who had contributed towards the planning, initiating, curriculum development and content design, operations and logistics, quality assurance, administration and enrolment processes of the DAIT programme were recognized for their efforts and commitment towards this national initiative.

The SLTC Research University ceremoniously launched the Centre for Governance and Public Policy; the university’s dedicated centre for research, education and policy making on Wednesday the 15th of February at the SLTC University premises in the TRACE Expert City, Colombo 10.  The Centre was inaugurated by Hon Ranil Wickramasinghe, The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, in the presence of state officials, local and international delegates, academics, university representatives, policy makers and industry personnel. The newly inaugurated centre will work on the fronts of knowledge sharing, policy development, research and knowledge incubation and public engagement in Sri Lanka as well as work in collaboration with international bodies, agencies and universities on joint academic and social initiatives. Educating the next generation about governance and public policy as well as contributing towards policy development and administration on a global scale have been identified as the key objectives of the centre. Welcoming the audience to this memorable occasion, the Vice Chancellor and the President of the SLTC Research University, Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe stressed upon the importance of universities transcending their conventionally assumed roles of mere knowledge disseminators but acceding to the functional roles of holistic educators that rise to the demands of the times. The launch of the SLTC Center for Governance and Public Policy (C-GaPP) marks a significant step towards this endeavour for SLTC. Addressing the gathering, Hon. President Ranil Wickresinghe said that he was overjoyed by the launch of the new centre. One that would cater to a pressing need  in Sri Lankan Education. The President also went on to say that the country has arrived at an age of transformation, where one has to consider both the good and the bad and higher education demands much change which requires wide ranging discussions among parties across the country. In addition to academic and research activities, listed among the key activities scheduled to be carried out by the SLTC Center for Governance and Public Policy (C-GaPP), is a series of seminars under the theme of Freedom & Prosperity; Sri Lanka towards 2048 which will open with an inaugural conference this year. The Centre is headed by Dr. Samitha Hettige – Head of Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the SLTC Research University who introduced the aims and objectives of the centre to the gathering. This was followed by Prof. Howard Nicholas, Associate Professor at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague  who spoke under the theme of  ‘Crisis; a catalyst for growth’ and referred to the many opportunities a crisis can generate not only for a country’s economy but for advancements in  higher education, research and technology. SLTC is Sri Lanka’s first corporate backed , non state research university and is known for technology enabled teaching and learning , research and innovation conducted in collaboration with international agencies and transcending the traditional conventions of education. Fostering the next generation of thought leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs through research is at the core of the SLTC Research University.  Research, self-learning, experimenting, challenging convention, innovative thinking, and driving one’s passion, are all integral components of the SLTC culture. SLTC is known for the wide array of disciplines it offers and cross-discipline collaboration across schools. The Centre for Governance and Public Policy is the latest addition to SLTC’s portfolio of schools and centres and will be a forerunner to the establishment of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences which will be launched later this year.

Innovation and development catalyst Good Life X (GLX) has entered into a partnership with the Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC) to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and foster the next generation of innovative thinkers in the country. The partnership comes at a time when the Sri Lankan economy needs a fresh impetus for innovation-led growth, with a focus on regenerative and sustainable business practices. Entrepreneurship, whilst taught in many courses worldwide, demands real-world experiences through successes and failures to understand the realities on the ground and to have a real impact. While students go through entrepreneurship and innovation classes, hands-on action often remains limited. The partnership between GLX and SLTC aims to tackle that, build practical skills among the campus students and prepare them to take on challenges in the real world. The partnership recognises that innovation requires out-of-the-box thinking, trialing different approaches to problem-solving and most of all, collaboration with fellow peers to unlock ideas within each other. Through the partnership, GLX will bring to SLTC’s City Campus located at TRACE Expert City, unique and innovative approaches to creating scalable impact, and accelerated good growth business models, whilst inspiring new ways of tackling old problems. This partnership will enable both parties to combine their strengths to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges at the local, regional and global levels, especially around sustainability and climate change. GLX will co-create the incubation efforts of SLTC and contribute to developing SLTC’s interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving, innovation and entrepreneurship expertise in order to be efficient and current. GLX will further contribute towards SLTC’s think tank on industry-academia, innovation and research while providing access to SLTC’s academic fraternity for students to engage with programs and activities hosted by GLX. Good Life X will be based as an onsite innovation sustainability partner within the SLTC City Campus at Trace Expert City in Colombo. The space will be used to facilitate hands-on experiences connecting the GLX’s methods of innovative community building within SLTC and Trace Expert City. Good Life X (GLX), is an innovation and development catalyst, geared to build a new wave of life-enhancing companies in South Asia. GLX provides critical knowledge and expertise to rapidly advance the prospects of startups, SMEs, and investors focusing on regeneration and innovation through their solutions. As the first sector-specific innovation platform in Sri Lanka GLX has developed flexible, renewable and diverse approaches to bridge the gap between the old and the new, creating actual progress in food and agriculture, circular design, wellness and tourism spaces since 2019.

The unfolding economic crisis in the country continues to negatively impact the hopes of many Sri Lankan youth who were aspiring for quality higher education overseas. Consequently, the number of students leaving for overseas education has significantly increased in recent times and the demand for local non-state higher education has come to experience new challenges. “The adverse effects of the economic situation are manifest across all levels of society, affecting the future of thousands of youths’’ says Ranjith Rubasinghe, Founder President /CEO of SLTC Research University (SLTC).  ‘This is a critical hour that tests the role of non-state educators in Sri Lanka as this situation requires them to step up in support of the youth. In this context, we are humbly proud to announce that SLTC is not only fully equipped to meet the current challenge but also prepared to go beyond and make a real difference in their lives’ said Mr Rubasinghe.  Elaborating how SLTC offers students equivalent routes to achieve their dreams Mr. Rubasinghe said ‘‘SLTC is in academic partnerships with leading universities in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Austria and Singapore.  These universities consider the first 2 years at the SLTC Research University as equivalent to the first 2 years taught at their respective universities. This enables SLTC undergraduates to receive an education of international standards from day one and transfer to their desired university once the first two years are complete’’. This reduces the tuition cost of the student by a great margin. Thus the students benefit from having to spend less than half the original cost for following a foreign degree thanks to the first 2-year advantage at SLTC and they get to realise their dream of studying abroad as well. It’s a sure pathway for migration that combines the highest educational qualifications and financial benefits. On the other hand, considering the volume of foreign currency drain prevented, this is a win-win for both students and the country, ‘’ Mr Rubasinghe further added.  Transfer options are available across almost all 20 study pathways offered by SLTC in the disciplines of Engineering, Computing & IT, Business, Technology and Music. In addition to the undergraduate programmes, SLTC has introduced a unique foundation programme tailored for post-O/L students who wish to fast-track their higher education. Referred to as the SLTC -Deakin foundation, this programme allows post-O/L students to qualify for an undergraduate transfer study programme at Deakin University, Australia. A truly unique programme, the foundation requires its participants to attend real-time undergraduate lectures conducted at SLTC during which they will acquire the foundation knowledge required to qualify to be admitted to an undergraduate degree of their choosing.  A dedicated faculty will guide these prospective undergraduates throughout the programme and will help them succeed in qualifying for undergraduate education. For students directly enrolling for undergraduate studies after successfully completing their A/Ls, SLTC offers the ‘ENTECH Merit-based Youth Scholarship Scheme’. ENTECH is a one-of-a-kind revolutionary scholarship programme that recognizes the academic excellence of prospective undergraduates. According to the programme (GCE or London A/L), students with ‘A’ passes are eligible for a maximum fee reduction of 60% of their tuition fee, with a 20% reduction offered for each ‘A’ pass. The ENTECH programme was launched at the inception of the SLTC and has benefited a great number of students over the years.  SLTC Research University’s list of elite academic partners includes renowned universities of Deakin, James Cook and RMIT in Australia, Auckland and Lincoln Universities in New Zealand, University of Lancaster in the UK, IITM in India, and Modul University in Austria. Their acknowledgement of SLTC’s standards as on par with theirs is a grand testament to SLTC’s excellence.  SLTC Research University currently offers 25 UGC-approved, degree awarding programmes through 6 schools – the largest portfolio amongst all non-state universities in the island. The university has been recognised as the fastest-growing university in Sri Lanka and the most innovative university in South Asia.  What really sets SLTC apart from the competition is its collaborative, innovative and dynamic research culture which focuses on producing high-quality, high-impact work. The University’s research partnerships enable students and faculty to engage in cutting-edge research with leading foreign universities leading to greater discoverability.  In line with this vision, SLTC Research University has established a strong academic infrastructure through twin physical locations – a tech city hub at TRACE Expert City and a fully residential campus set on a lush 35-acre suburban property in Padukka with state-of-the-art facilities including accommodation and recreational avenues.  Set in the midst of a number of leading IT & Tech companies at TRACE Expert City, SLTC’s City Campus serves the goal of exposing students to high-level working environments whilst still being undergraduates. A concept that embodies SLTC’s vision to produce top-of-class, work-ready graduates.  Prospective students can inquire for further information about SLTC degree programmes and discover the many opportunities available at the university, via 011 2100500,  www.sltc.ac.lk or info@sltc.ac.lk.

Educating, grooming, and nurturing holistic graduates who can actively contribute towards a chosen discipline in the context of academia or profession has always been a top priority for SLTC, Sri Lanka’s first Research Based Nonstate University. SLTC is also one of the first universities to adopt a student-centric, problem-based learning process since its inception and research and innovation are the defining factors of the institution’s ethos. Today the fruits of its labour are visible in the many achievements, innovations, and global research projects that the SLTC community has contributed to.