Teesside University, located close to seaside, is to open a happy-side in Sri Lanka

MBA aspirants with three Vice Chancellors 

Deputy British High Commissioner Lisa Whanstall

Vice Chancellor Paul Croney

Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Warren Harrison

Two new master’s degree courses

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake or AKD promised in his election manifesto that his Government will “actively promote fields such as science and technology, research, education, culture, art, cinema, music, philosophy, and sports at the state, corporate, and individual levels”.1 Regarding health services, this was elaborated as introducing mechanisms to identify, manage, and treat chronic non-communicable diseases.2 Cancer was one such non-communicable disease. Concerning science and technology, the objective of his administration will be to create a digital state with international partnership in which a major component involves the digital transformation of Government services.3 

This was reiterated in the Budget he presented to Parliament for 2025.4 According to AKD, digital transformation will uplift economic growth through enhancing productivity across industrial and services sectors, advancing economic opportunity, improving public service delivery, and improving transparency in governance and public finance.

But a crucial requirement for achieving this goal has been the availability of a critical mass-adequate number to influence the system – of skilled people. Sri Lanka’s state university system, with its enviable human resource base, is on this job. But due to structural problems such as funding for ongoing projects, the availability has been short of the requirements. In this atmosphere, a private university in Sri Lanka, BMS Campus, has teamed up with a leading research university in the UK, Teesside University, to introduce two vital master’s degree courses to support the Government’s initiative to take Sri Lanka to the next stage of development. One is an MBA Degree in Digital Transformation. The other is a Master’s degree in Cancer and Molecular Biology Diagnostics.

Launching of the two courses

The two-degree programs were officially launched at the British High Commissioner’s residence, Westminster House, in Colombo last week, in the presence of Lisa Whanstall, Deputy High Commissioner deputising the High Commissioner Andrew Patrick who was out of the country. Teesside University was represented by its three lead academics cum administrators, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Paul Croney, Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr. Warren Harrison, and Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Mark Simpson. This writer, as the President of BMS Campus, led its team to the inauguration ceremony. To give effect to the new degree programs, two memoranda of understanding were exchanged between the Teesside University and the BMS Campus witnessed by officials of the British High Commission, university academics, business leaders and numerous well-wishers.

Onset of transnational education

The system of education that prevailed through millennia had been that the student should visit the teacher and receive instructions at his place of teaching. This was true for seats of pedagogue in ancient India like the Taxila or Nalanda which had been attended by students from all over the world.5 This was true for seats of learning in other parts of the world too. However, in the new millennium, there was a paradigm shift in the delivery of education in which education from reputed institutions of learning was made available to students at their places of residence. 

This system, known as Transnational Education or TNE, became popular due to convenience, cost advantages, possibility for wide outreach, and ability to maintain quality standards by leveraging on advances in information and communication technology or ICT. It was a form of offshoring of education, similar to offshoring in the manufacturing sector, that went along with the onset of the globalisation of the world economy in late 20th century.

The offshoring of education took place in two forms.

Two forms of transnational education

One was the establishment of the branches of the universities of repute in countries where there was a concentration of local students. This was a costly affair since the university concerned had to incur a heavy capital expenditure in buildings, equipment, advanced delivery systems, and qualified as well as competent academic and administration staff. In addition, there were several other hurdles which these universities faced in the host countries. One was the need for meeting complex and time-consuming regulatory hurdles for foreign universities. 

Another was the challenges posed by cultural differences between the home country and the host country needing significant adjustments in curriculum developments and teaching methods. A third was the difficulty in quality assurance in the local branch to be on par with the standards maintained in the main university in terms of faculty, facilities, and the availability of resources. A fourth was the sudden policy reversals by the host-country governments due to political pressures and periodical economic ups and downs.

Because of these difficulties, the provision of education through branch networks was slowed paving way for the development of TNE as the second method of the delivery of education. Under TNE, reputed local higher learning institutions are engaged, after several rounds of audits and field examinations, to deliver the internal degree courses of the main university to local and neighbouring country students. There will be continuous assessment of the quality standards of the local delivery institution to assure that the degree that is awarded is of the same standard as the one offered to internal students in the home country campus. 

Therefore, TNE is beneficial to the foreign university concerned, local higher learning institutions, and the students. For the foreign university, it is a cost-effective measure of outreaching a larger student population. For the local higher learning institution, it is a development support by a foreign university of repute which it cannot attain by itself. For students, it is a massive saving of the costs which they could have incurred had they chosen to complete their degrees on campus at the main university. For governments of host countries, it provides an extra benefit in the form of cutting the foreign exchange outflows on account of receiving educational services, on one side, and possibility of earning foreign exchange by developing international education hubs catering to foreign students, on the other. Hence, TNE is a ‘win-win-win-win’ choice for all.

Office for students

The arrangement between BMS Campus and Teesside University has passed all these tests.

BMS Campus already has experience with Teesside University when it started offering the latter’s general MBA degree in Sri Lanka in 2019.6 This degree offered Sri Lankan students the challenging opportunity to combine real-world experiences with academic theory benefiting from Teesside University’s rich culture of innovation and enterprise.

Teesside University is a triple gold awardee under UK’s Teaching Excellence Framework of 2023 or TEF-23 with respect to overall performance, student experience, and student outcomes.7 TEF is run by UK Government’s independent regulator of higher education called Office for Students or OfS to ensure quality and standards of higher education, equality of opportunity, and student protection through the assurance that universities and colleges in UK are sustainable and well-operated.8 

OfS, established under the Higher Education and Research Act of 2017, is funded by the UK government out of annual budgetary allocations and registration fees paid by higher education providers but functions as an independent body accountable to UK Parliament. It is the duty of OfS to ensure that students studying under TNE arrangements will receive UK higher education with the same quality and standards as those who are resident in England and their study courses are subject to the same regulation.9

According to data compiled by OfS, in 2021-22, out of about 450,000 students studying under TNE arrangements with universities and colleges in England, Sri Lanka has the third largest TNE student population amounting to about 35,000 with China and Malaysia in the lead.10 OfS follows a regulatory method based on the risks for sustainable provision of higher education by the universities and colleges involved to assure that the universities will not leave the students in the lurch. 

If there is any intelligence report to suggest that a particular university or college is brewing trouble causing it to exit the higher education field without notice, OfS immediately takes corrective action proactively to ensure that students will complete their registered degree programs without interruption. Thus, students are in safe hands with OfS behind Teesside University, unseen by students and their parents. It is a guarantee of quality and standards in education for students in the UK as well as those across the borders.

Vice Chancellor Paul Croney

Says Vice Chancellor Paul Croney: “Ours is a Campus with investment so far up to £ 280 million in infrastructure. It has transformed the Campus into vibrant and modern facilities to give a new experience to students, staff, and partners. We do research that brings out inventions that are connected to industry for commercial production. Students benefit from that. As an innovation university, our job is to see that link with industry helps students to get valuable practical experience. Without practice, no meaning in education.” 

He further elaborates on this point: “Our 3D animation studio has helped students produce animation movies for industry, entertainment, and marketing. It uses the most modern ICT to bring out best creative talents in students. We are going to complete a new ICT centre called Digital Life with an investment of £ 40 million. It is a new teaching and learning facility. It will have smart labs, digital art studios, a multi-functional lecture theatre, and events space. It is a demonstration of our commitment to bring out a responsible and sustainable digital future for the university as well as for the world.”

High incidence of cancer in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a high incidence of cancer according to the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.11 Accordingly, in Sri Lanka, cancer is a significant contributor to both morbidity and mortality rates with breast, cervical, oral, lung, and colorectal cancers leading the way. In 2022, 33,243 new cancer cases were reported yielding an age-standardised incidence rate of 106.9 per 100,000 individuals. It had caused 19,143 deaths in 2022 in which the age-standardised mortality rate amounted to 59 per 100,000 individuals. The worst outcome is not the incidence and mortality. It is the increased possibility of developing cancers by the population threatening to reduce the life span of people. 

Accordingly, the cumulative risk of developing cancer before the age of 75 has been 11.9% for males and 11.2% for females. Correspondingly, there is a considerable proportion of people who are susceptible to cancer during their lifetime. It amounts to 7.5 for males and 5.9 for females before the age of 75.

This development is alarming making it necessary for Sri Lanka to go for early detection of the development of cancer among its people. In this context, the entry of Teesside University with its advanced master’s course on cancer and molecular biology diagnostics is well timed and opportune. It will equip Sri Lanka’s scientists with the latest techniques of early diagnosis of the development of cancer in people. It is expected that about 100 new scientists with competence in these diagnostic techniques will be produced annually by Teesside University.

Low productivity

The MBA course in digital transformation is also timely in Sri Lanka. For sustained economic growth Sri Lanka should increase its productivity levels across all the sectors. Sri Lanka’s growth of prosperity as measured by the growth in the total output of goods and services arises from the growth of physical capital, human resources, and a residual factor called the total factor productivity-a synergic contribution to output by the combined effect of physical capital and human resources. Insufficient growth in total factor productivity has been identified, among others, as an important reason for slow growth in prosperity.12

Other researchers also have found that growth in total factor productivity along with the capital accumulation is an important contributor to economic prosperity of the country.13 To improve productivity and bring prosperity to people, it is necessary to transform the economy digitally. That transformation should take place in both the government sector and the private sector. In this regard, a critical issue faced by the country is the non-availability of qualified ICT specialists to undertake the job. In this context, the MBA degree in digital transformation will help Sri Lanka to develop a nucleus of such a workforce.

Helping Sri Lanka to develop its scientists’ base

Teesside University has entered Sri Lanka at a time when the country needs competent people in diagnosing cancers and transforming the economy digitally. The country’s state university system is currently on the job. However, the supply of such talents to the economy is insufficient compared to the demand since the state universities alone cannot do the job. In the circumstances, the offer of the two advanced postgraduate degree courses by Teesside University will help the country to alleviate the problem, on one hand, and bring to Sri Lanka a multitude of talents enriched by advanced research in other parts of the world, on the other.

Footnotes:

1NPP Manifesto, A Thriving Nation and A Beautiful Life, 2024, Colombo p 7.

2Ibid, p 17.

3Ibid, p 73.

4Sri Lanka Ministry of Finance, Budget for 2025, p 13 and p 20.

5For details, see: Apte, D.G, Universities in Ancient India, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (available at: https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/

196174216674_10153420277166675.pdf)

6https://www.bms.ac.lk/MBA-Teesside

7https://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/about/university/tef2023.cfm

8https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/about/

9https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/transnational-education-protecting-the-interests-of-students-taught-abroad/

10Ibid.

11https://www.epid.gov.lk/storage/post/pdfs/en_661ea55c0d8b5_Vol_51_no_13-english.pdf

12Dutz, Mark A and O’Connell, Stephen D, 2013, Productivity, Innovation, and Growth in Sri Lanka: An Empirical Investigation, The World Bank, WPS 6354.

13Kumari, RDTS and Tang, SHK,2019, Sri Lanka’s Sources of Growth: The Application of Primal and Dual Total Factor Productivity Growth Accounting Approaches, Proceedings of CBSL 12th International Research Conference, Colombo.

(The writer, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at [email protected]; he has also been functioning as President of BMS Campus since January 2010.)