149 students graduate at CA Sri Lanka’s School of Accounting and Business Convocation

From left: School of Accounting and Business Registrar Upatissa Kariyawasam, CA Vice President Sanjaya Bandara, CA President Manil Jayesinghe, Minister of Higher Education Bandula Gunawardana, Ministry of Higher Education Secretary Anura Dissanayake, CA CEO Dulani Fernando, CA Secretary Prasanna Liyanage and School of Accounting and Business Director Pradeep Alexander

A total of 149 students of the CA Sri Lanka School of Accounting and Business (SAB) graduated with BSc. Applied Accounting Degrees at its Annual Convocation 2019 held on Wednesday, 29 January at the BMICH. 

The convocation was held under the patronage of Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Technology and Innovations Bandula Gunawardana and Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovations Secretary and Anura Dissanayake. 

A total of 131 students were conferred the BSc. Applied Accounting (General) degree, while 18 students graduated with the BSc. Applied Accounting (Special) degree at the convocation.

Emma Bernedeth Fernando and Dinushki Marie Valentini Herat were conferred awards of academic distinction at the convocation for their academic excellence. Fernando was awarded academic distinction as the batch top with a First Class (Hon) under the general degree, while Herat was recognised as the batch top with a First Class (Hons) under the special degree category. 

President of CA Sri Lanka Manil Jayesinghe noted that within a relatively short span, the CA Sri Lanka degree program has gone on to become one of the most popular accounting academic programs offered in the country, followed by over 1500 students since it was launched in 2013. 

“I believe the unique mode of study offered through the degree program has helped our graduates amounting to over 300 to be employed at reputed organisations locally, while a significant percent has also migrated or enjoy employment overseas,” he said. 

A salient feature of the BSc. Applied Accounting degree is the equal focus it gives not just to theory but also in harnessing the technical and soft skill capabilities of an undergraduate, and the training component the program offers with the intention of building a holistic professional who possess contemporary skills to steer corporates of the 21st century. 

CA Sri Lanka is the only professional body in the country to offer a recognised professional and academic qualification in accounting. Students who follow the program also have the option of studying one year at CA Sri Lanka and completing the second and third years at Deakin University or La Trobe University in Australia.

The BSc. Applied Accounting Degree program is designed under two stages where students can either complete the general degree within a period of three years (six semesters) or the special degree over a period of four years (eight semesters), offered on both full time and part time basis.  The degree was primarily developed by CA Sri Lanka to offer a recognised and affordable higher education opportunity for the country’s youth, along with the aim of bridging the growing gap in the dearth of university level education in the country due to the limited number of intakes at local universities.

A section of the gathering