Eastern University, Sri Lanka
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| Eastern University, Sri Lanka | |
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| නැගෙනහිර විශ්වවිද්යාලය, ශ්රී ලංකා கிழக்குப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், இலங்கை |
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| Motto | Per ardua ad scientiam |
| Established | August 1, 1981 |
| Type | Public |
| Budget | LKR 448,212 million (2010) |
| Vice-Chancellor | Dr Kidnan Kobintharajah |
| Academic staff | 195 (2010) |
| Admin. staff | 355 (2010) |
| Location | Vantharumoolai, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka 7°47′51.40″N 81°34′55.20″E / 7.797611°N 81.582°ECoordinates: 7°47′51.40″N 81°34′55.20″E / 7.797611°N 81.582°E |
| Campus | Multiple campuses |
| Website | esn.ac.lk |
The Eastern University, Sri Lanka (Sinhala: නැගෙනහිර විශ්වවිද්යාලය, ශ්රී ලංකා, Tamil: கிழக்குப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், இலங்கை) (abbreviated EUSL) is a public university in Vantharumoolai in Sri Lanka.[1] Established in 1981 as a university college, it became a full fledged university in 1986. The university, like all public universities in Sri Lanka, receives the bulk of its funding from the University Grants Commission (UGC), part of the Ministry of Higher Education in Colombo. The UGC and the central government therefore exert a great deal of control over the university.
The university has two campuses - the main campus in Vantharumoolai near Chenkalady and a second campus in Trincomalee. It also has facilities in Batticaloa. The university currently has seven faculties (Agriculture, Applied Sciences, Arts & Culture, Commerce & Management, Communication & Business Studies, Healthcare Sciences and Science). The university offers numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses which award a variety of degrees including BA, BBA, BCom, BCompSc, BInfTech, BSc, BSc(Agr), MBBS and MSc.
The university had 3,046 students and 550 employees in 2010.[2] It is the tenth largest university in Sri Lanka in terms of student numbers.[2] In 2009/10 the university admitted 1,149 undergraduates.[3] The university had a recurrent budget of LKR 448,212 million and a capital budget of LKR 82,839 million in 2010.[4] Its income in 2010 was LKR 591,903 million of which 98% was grant from the government in Colombo.[4]
The vice-chancellor of the university is Kidnan Kobintharajah.
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[edit] History
The idea of having a Tamil University on the lines of Hebrew University of Israel in the Eastern Province was mooted in 1960 by a group of professors who were teaching at the University of Ceylon. The project was started by purchasing land near Nilaveli, Trincomalee and was abandoned later due to lack of funds. The present project was started by K.W. Devanayakam, the Home Minister of the UNP government with the collaboration of Prof FRSCP Kalpage, Minister of Higher Education during 1981.
The Eastern University is situated in an area where relative peace was maintained by the warring parties in the Sri Lankan conflict. The UNP government turned the Vantharumoolai High School into a regional university with a view to make it cater to the needs of the local students. The primary instruction is in Tamil and English.
At its beginning, the university had very highly qualified teaching staff, trained abroad in several western countries. It catered for the farming population of the Eastern Province. Eastern Province is the breadbasket of Sri Lanka, producing a record rice production in the Ampara district and is a model for the rest of Sri Lanka and Asia. However, after the past decades of civil disturbances, the university lost many of its teaching staff who had left the institution regarding their personal safety. Now with a limited number of trained teachers and resources the university endlessly strives to regain its former level of quality.
The Eastern University has five faculties, namely the Faculty of Agriculture, the Faculty of Science,the Faculty of Commerce & Management,the Faculty of Art & Culture, & the Faculty of Health-Care Sciences. The main campus is situated in Vantharumoolai, near the town of Chenkalady.The campus has another premises in Trincomalee known as "Trincomalee Campus of EUSL". There are two faculties, namely the Faculty of Communication and Business Studies, the Faculty of Applied Science and the Siddha Medicine Unit functioning under the leadership of a Rector at Trincomalee Campus.
In January 2011, the Minister of Higher Education having come to the conclusion that the affairs of the Eastern University have been seriously squandered due to mismanagement, and appointed a Competent Authority relplacing the Council of the University. The Competent Authority so appointed is Prof. Ranjith Arthenayake, who had been the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2000.
The decadent approaches taken by the then interim Acting Vice Chancellor in the 2010/11 period were brought to the limelight through the UGC Investigations in 2011. Despite many objections from the academic community, the acting vice chancellor (K. Premakumar) continued on with backing from local political pressures.
Notable criticism by the public and observers is the lack of transparency in this institution on matters related to academic and financial management. The intervention by the UGC is expected to rectify this situation.
The applications for post of Vice-chancellor were called in late 2011, and the selection was made in Feb 2012. It was expected Dr. Somasuntharam Sutharsan, who is an Eastern University product, would have succeeded to the chair of vice-chancellor. However, in February 2012, Dr. Kidnan Kobintharajah, who is a naturalized Canadian Citizen was appointed as Vice Chancellor in 2012 [1]. Dr. Kobintharajah has been in exile since 2004, while still continuing to be employed at the Eastern University.
[edit] Campus
The university is based at three sites: Vantharumoolai, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Four faculties (Agriculture, Arts & Culture, Commerce & Management and Science) are based at Vantharumoolai, two at Trincomalee (Applied Sciences and Communication & Business Studies) and one at Batticaloa (Healthcare Sciences).
The Trincomalee campus is based at Dockyard Road. The Batticaloa site is located on New Road.
The Batticaloa campus is nearer to several international tourist spots like Pasikudah (near Kalkudah) and Arugam Bay. The scenic Badulla Road leading to the Central Highlands is about 2 km from the Vantharumoolai Site of the University.
[edit] Organization and administration
The present vice-chancellor is Dr Kidnan Kobintharajah.
The university has seven faculties.
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Faculties
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Other Institutions
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[edit] Faculty of Agriculture
The Faculty of Agriculture is divided into six departments: Agricultural Biology, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural Engineering, Animal Sciences and Crop Science.[5]
This was one of the first units which started functioning with the inception of the university.
Due to the highly developed Karadiyan Aaru Agricultural Unit there were an abundant supply of qualified professionals in the field of agriculture. Most of them were trained in USA and UK. They were able to run the faculty without any hickups. As such a high quality staff came to work in the faculty and as administrators of the university. This faculty lost its wealth of human resources due to the prevailing 'insecure' conditions during the period of civil disturbance. Dr. S. Raveendranath a professor in this Faculty and also the Vice Chancellor was kidnapped in 2007. Todate, the fate of this scholar remains unknown. Internal foul play has not been ruled out. This highlights the level of unfavorable conditions in this institution.
At present, this faculty is struggling to re-develop, which has become an ordeal of managing financial and educational resources. Dr. Somasuntharam Sutharsan is the Dean of the faculty and was also the candidate for post of Vice-Chancellor.
[edit] Faculty of Applied Sciences
The Faculty of Applied Sciences is divided into two departments: Computer Science and Physical Science.[6]
[edit] Faculty of Arts & Culture
The Faculty of Arts & Culture is divided into nine departments: Arabic, Comparative Religion & Social Harmony, Education & Childcare, Fine Arts, Geography, History, Islamic Studies, Languages and Social Sciences.[7]
[edit] Faculty of Commerce & Management
The Faculty of Commerce & Management is divided into three departments: Commerce, Economics and Management.[8]
[edit] Faculty of Communication & Business Studies
The Faculty of Communication & Business Studies is divided into two departments: Business & Management Studies and Languages & Communication Studies.[9]
[edit] Faculty of Healthcare Sciences
The Faculty of Healthcare Sciences is divided into six departments: Clinical Sciences, Human Biology, Medical Education & Research, Pathophysiology, Primary Health Care and Supplementary Health Sciences.[10]
The Faculty of Health-Care Sciences was started in 2006. It is considered to be a gift for the Silver Jubilee of the Eastern University - Sri Lanka. It comprises the following departments.
- Department of Medical Education and Research
- Department of Human Biology
- Department of Clinical Sciences
- Department of Pathophysiology
- Department of Primary Health-Care
- Department of Supplementary Health Sciences
The faculty offers the following course of studies
- Medicine (MBBS)
- Nursing (B.Sc)
Dr. Kunanandham (FRCS, PhD), a London qualified neurosurgeon was appointed as the first Dean to pioneer the faculty. He was made a member of the University Grants Commission and was entrusted the duty of designing and developing the said faculty. Dr. Kunanandham passed-away unexpectedly in London when he was with his family.
The Present Dean is Dr. K. E. Karunakaran, a former surgeon attached to the general hospital in Batticaloa. The faculty is growing slowly but steadily. The faculty needs a lot of financial assistance for the expansion of the infrastructure and also the human resource. At present the faculty is situated at the heart of the Batticaloa city, near Kallady bridge, which is a landmark and a unique identity for Batticaloa. Though, the proposed permanent site for this faculty is at Pillayarady. Late Dr. Kunanandham planned everything to develop the faculty at the proposed site but unfortunately his death brought a barrier to this development. The faculty awaits for the assistance to develop its permanent premises as soon as possible to serve the country.
The number of students in the faculty is around 250. Average students admitted per year is about 50 for MBBS and 30 for BSc in Nursing
[edit] Faculty of Science
The Faculty of Science is divided into five departments: Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology.[10]
[edit] Student life
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[edit] Noted people
Mr. Alosiyus, a small time producer in Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (national Tele-Vision) is a former student. His wife is a lecturer in the Faculty of Arts.
"Third Eye" S. Jeyshanker (PhD), the Sri Lankan Tamil drama activist and alternative theatrical campaigner is attached to the Faculty of Arts as a senior lecturer. Jeyashanker and his spouse 'Kamala Vasuki' (a contraversial feminist as well as a modernist painter) have been stalwarts of neo-creative uprising of arts and media in Batticaloa. Despite many 'threats' from other schools of thought the Jeyashankers campaigns on quite gallantly.
Dr. Sathananthan, a botanist; obtained the honour of being the recipient of the first ever PhD from the Eastern University of Sri Lanka.
[edit] References
- ^ "Eastern University, Sri Lanka". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/single/9.html.
- ^ a b "Chapter - 1 - General Information". Sri Lanka University Statistics 2010. University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/downloads/statistics/stat_2010/Chapter1.pdf.
- ^ "Chapter - 2 - University Admissions". Sri Lanka University Statistics 2010. University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/downloads/statistics/stat_2010/Chapter2.pdf.
- ^ a b "Chapter - 5 - Finance". Sri Lanka University Statistics 2010. University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/downloads/statistics/stat_2010/Chapter5.pdf.
- ^ "Eastern University, Sri Lanka Faculty of Agriculture". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/unifaculty/9.html?facid=50.
- ^ "Trincomalee Campus Faculty of Applied Sciences". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/unifaculty/9.html?facid=50.
- ^ "Eastern University, Sri Lanka Faculty of Arts and Culture". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/unifaculty/9.html?facid=51.
- ^ "Eastern University, Sri Lanka Faculty of Commerce and Management". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/unifaculty/9.html?facid=52.
- ^ "Trincomalee Campus Faculty of Communication and Buisiness Studies". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/campuses/unifaculty/33.html?facid=81.
- ^ a b "Eastern University, Sri Lanka Faculty of Health-Care Sciences". University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka). http://www.ugc.ac.lk/en/universities-and-institutes/universities/unifaculty/9.html?facid=54.
[edit] External links
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