London: Four Indian education institutions figure in the latest world university rankings, which continue to be topped by the universities of Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford, for their strengths in teaching and research. The four Indian institutions are the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU). The IITs rank 57th in the world’s top 200 universities list and the IIMs rank 68th. The JNU comes 183rd in the last. The Times Higher Education Supplement, an authoritative journal in academia, announced the third edition of the rankings.
While we in Sri Lanka make big noises about reintroducing history to the school curriculum, in UK they plan to take history out for A/Ls.  Does history matter anymore? If so why? If not why? It would be an interesting topic to discuss.
“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.†said Oscar Wilde once. Going by what we see in Daily News, all we can say is Conversation about the education is the last refuge of every unimaginative minister. Yesterday we read Prof. Warnapala taking a pot shot at the education system and today we read Dr.
The GCE Advanced Level Examination 2007 will commence today in 1,771 examination centres throughout the country.Examinations Department sources said 234,958 candidates will sit the examination. Among them, 189,164 are school candidates while 45,794 are private candidates. Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe said a special examination centre will be established in the Kalutara Prison for candidates who have been detained while two centres will be established in Ratmalana and Tangalle for blind candidates. All candidates are required to produce their National Identity cards before being allowed to sit for the examination.
Sri Lanka still lacks an ambitious Higher Education Policy to accelerate economic and social development, Higher Education Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala said.“Since the establishment of the University of Ceylon in 1942, universities have made a contribution for the development of both intellectual and professional enterprise in the country. Several professions, through the University system, came to be developed in the country and like the Engineering profession, they have made an impact on the economic process and social changeâ€. The Minister was addressing the Induction, and Graduation Ceremony organised by the Institute of Engineers’.
Amidst concerns of parents on evaluating children on their intelligence and aptitude when seeking admission to schools, the Education Ministry declared no mechanism had yet been formulated for use in evaluating the child. Education Minister Susil Premjayantha said the Ministry was yet to receive instructions from the Presidential Secretariat on evaluating children’s intelligence and aptitude, though applications for Grade 1 will be called from August 15 onwards as ordered by the Supreme Court. “All 9,000 Government schools will be following the new system when admitting children to schools though semi-government and private schools are free to choose whatever scheme they prefer,†the Minister said. Sri Lanka Teachers’ Service Union secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said it was difficult to gauge a child’s intelligence and aptitude at the age of 4½ without imparting a properly guided primary education to the child. Source: http://www.
University Students should not think that they could topple the government by getting involved in political agitation. They should study well and contribute to the well being of the country. They must be equipped with knowledge needed to live in the technological world, said Minister of Higher Education, Professor W. A. Wiswa Warnapala at a ceremony held at Kegalle St.
The phenomena of unemployment has historically been a fashionable theme relentlessly subjected to dialogue in academic spheres and by almost all political parties that intended to gain power since post independence. One may construe this as a beggar’s wound universally exploited by politicians to gain political mileage especially in the epoch of frenzied presidential polls.In a way, what is wrong in it when even President Bill Clinton sang the same old song to advance himself from being the Governor of remote Arkansas to be the 42nd President of United States? Like many Sri Lankan politicians who find the non-alignment between education and unemployment extremely mesmerising, even the U.S President pledged that by year 2000 the American students will be made competent in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and English, so that they may be well-equipped to be productively employed in the modern economy.
The Government has decided to allocate Rs. 360 million to provide hostel facilities to undergraduates of the Rajarata University.Accordingly, two hostel buildings capable of providing accommodation to 800 students will be constructed for the university. “A proposal submitted by Higher Education Minister Prof. Wishwa Warnapala to this effect received the nod of the Cabinet on Wednesday,†Cabinet spokesman and Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the media yesterday.
Teachers in UK have called for websites such as YouTube to be shut down as part of efforts to prevent pupils and staff being bullied. Delegates at the conference of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) said bullying can continue outside school and work hours. They said bullies can send abusive text messages or e-mails to victims. A spokesman for the website YouTube said the vast majority of people used the site responsibly. At the PAT annual conference in Harrogate, delegates heard that bullies have posted mobile phone videos on websites, showing teachers as well as pupils being attacked or humiliated.