AIT IN SRI LANKA
AIT's already successful collaborations in Sri Lanka were further strengthened by a mission
led by Prof. Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President, who travelled to Colombo on 12-14
November 2000 to deliver the keynote address at a two-day workshop on 'Sustainable
Industrial Development through Cleaner Production', co-organized by the Ministry of
Forestry and Environment, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Industrial Development
and AIT. Prof. Armand also met with The Honorable Minister of Forestry and Environment,
the Deputy Minister of Forestry and Environment, and the Deputy Minister of Constitutional Affairs
and Industrial Development. He was accompanied by Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe.
Prof. Jean-Louis Armand is seen delivering the workshop's keynote address. Seated from left are Mr. Roy Jayasinghe, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Industrial Development; Mr. W.C. Dheerasekera, Secretary, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Industrial Development; the Honorable Mahinda Wijesekera, Minister of Forestry and Environment; and Mr. Thosapala Hewage, Acting Secretary, Ministry of Forestry and Environment.
The workshop was attended by over 65 senior executives/directors from various institutions/ industries. Presentations by AIT faculty, Prof. Athapol Noomhorm of the Processing Technology Program and Dr. Visvanathan, were well received. Following the workshop was a meeting
between the manager of the Small and Medium Enterprise Developers Project with Dr. Visvanathan and a detailed follow-up meeting with Mr. Jayasinghe, resulting in the enrolment in SERD's Master's Program in Cleaner Production of one fully funded staff from this office next year. The AIT delegation was also informed of a forthcoming request for AIT assistance when the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Peradeniya introduces Cleaner Production in its curriculum.
Prof. Jean-Louis Armand is seen meeting with The Honorable Prof. Leslie Gunawardana, Minister of Science and Technology, to discuss on-going collaboration activities, especially with regard to the current Masters and 'split' Ph.D. candidates from national universities and research institutions, funded at AIT by the Government of Sri Lanka under the ADB Science and Technology Personnel Development Project. Prof. Armand also discussed the recent workshop on remote sensing/GIS which was conducted under the auspicies of the Ministry of Science and Technology. A positive response to the workshop is the forthcoming enrolment of a candidate in the 'split' Ph.D. program in January, with funding from the ADB. The candidate is from the University of Moratuwa.
The Minister stressed the importance of AIT as a regional partner in Sri Lanka's HRD efforts for its academics and professional practitioners. He agreed to fully support and promote AIT as a training venue for ADB-funded scholars in the coming year.
Prof. Armand held extensive meetings with the Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology
and the Director of ADB Science and Technology Personnel Development Project and
senior colleagues, concerning future candidates from the national universities
under this Project. Picture shows, from left: Prof. N.R. Arthenayake, Secretary,
Ministry of Science and Technology; Prof. Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President; Prof.
Witharana, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology; Prof. K.K.Y.W.
Perera, Director, ADB Science and Technology Personnel Development Project; Ms. P.N.
Kodikara, Manager, Staff Development and Training, ADB Project; and Mr. Sanjeev
Jayasinghe.
Meetings were also held with:
- Mr. A.M. Chandrapala, Secretary, H.E. Presidents Scholarship Fund, and Additional
Secretary Ministry of Education, to discuss the role of AIT as a post-graduate training
venue for the Presidential Scholarship awardees. It is envisaged that 100 such
scholarships worth US$ 20,000, each will be given in 2001. Given the strong ties that AIT
has established with the Ministry of Education, AIT will be given first
preference for placement of the awardees in the fields that have been identified.
Furthermore, when the awardees are selected by April/May 2001, AIT will be invited by
the Secretary to meet them, talk about AIT programs and screen the students. - Mr. S.M. Galagoda, Project Director, Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project,
Ministry of Education, to discuss and confirm the 4th batch of 15 participants to the
'Teacher Education Development' Certificate course in January 2001 and the 1st batch
of 15 participants to the Certificate course in Information Management/Technology in
January 2001.Also discussed were the Ministries' requirements for Master's training in Information
Management/Technology to start the program in May 2001. The above programs are
being funded by the Ministry through a World Bank project. - Ms. Marie-Helene Esteue, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of France, with regard to
establishing a link between AIT and the French Embassy in Sri Lanka on Post Graduate
Education to be offered jointly in AIT and France. Further meetings will take place
early next year (2001) under the guidance of Prof. Armand, AIT President .
Details of these meetings and other collaborations/visits can be obtained from Mr.
Sanjeev Jayasinghe.