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Tuesday, 8 July 2014 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Recognising the urgent need of ‘Actuary’ professionals demanded by the global and local financial industry, the University of Colombo has taken the initiative to offer an MSc in Actuarial Science for the first time in Sri Lanka.
A 2010 survey ranked actuary as the No. 1 highest paid job in the USA. This trend is now developing in other parts of the world. This initiative is taken to ensure that Sri Lanka is not left behind, but able to leapfrog other nations in this rapidly emerging discipline towards the state vision of being the ‘hub’ of the Asia in many fields.
More than three years of careful planning for adapting to national and regional needs while maintaining international standards, the MSc in Actuarial Science program is now being launched, and is designed according to the standards set out by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, the professional body representing actuaries in the UK.
Many discussions and forums were held among industry experts and university academia during the planning stage. The Department of Statistics has taken every possible step to ensure a high quality to the program. The CEO of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, Derek Cribb visited Sri Lanka in December 2013 to discuss the process of obtaining exemptions for professional qualifications in actuaries. Further discussions were also held between the Head of the Department of Statistics of University of Colombo, Dr. Dilhari Attygalle and the Director Education of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, Dr. Trevor Watkins, who met at their London headquarters in February 2014.
The Masters in Actuarial Science program will provide an opportunity for prospective students to gain knowledge in this emerging field in an effectively supervised and financially affordable manner. The program will cover all the Level I subjects (core technical subjects CT1 to CT8) of the Actuary Examination conducted by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK. Thus the Masters students have been guided to get international professional qualifications from UK.
Collaborative effort
The program was planned and will be implemented with the collaboration of three bodies; the Department of Statistics of the University of Colombo, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, and the Actuarial Association of Sri Lanka. In addition, the Department of Actuarial Mathematics & Statistics of Heriot-Watt University, UK, will contribute toward the quality assurance of the program, manly with respect to examination matters. The lecture panel will consist of senior lecturers from the Faculties of Science, Finance and Management of the University of Colombo, as well as several Industry professionals in the field of actuaries in Sri Lanka.
Some leading insurance companies and State banks in Sri Lanka have already committed some of their employees to follow this program. While this collaborative effort will enhance actuary education in Sri Lanka, the insurance sector has already realised the benefit of the program for the development of the sector within Sri Lanka.
This program will be conducted as a two-year part-time program, in order to facilitate students who are employed. It is expected that the program will attract candidates from neighbouring countries as it becomes established.
The Department of Statistics, University of Colombo, evolved through the Department of Mathematics, is an entity with a rich history of taking the initiative to introduce many changes in the field of Statistics and Mathematics. It is the first and perhaps the only specialised Statistics Department within a faculty of Science in the Sri Lankan university system. The Department of Statistics has a professional workforce of 17 academics, including seven PhDs, another four with Research Masters Degrees, and the others currently enrolled as postgraduate students in research programs. The Department of Statistics offers three undergraduate four-year honours programs consisting of more than 75 undergraduate courses to students.
Through the Department of Statistics, the University of Colombo presently offers another Masters Degree program in Applied Statistics. The MSc in Applied Statistics postgraduate Degree program has been offered by the Department of Statistics since 1976, and about 200 have graduated from this program over the years. Mathematics graduates produced by University of Colombo have a high demand in USA Universities to offer doctoral assistantships to get their services while studying for their PhDs. There are currently also eight PhD candidates supervised by the Department of Statistics.
The program will be inaugurated on 8 July, at the University of Colombo. The Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science of University of Colombo is honoured to have Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury and an alumnus of the University of Colombo to deliver the inaugural speech at the ceremony.
The Chairperson of the University Grant Commission, the Vice Chancellor University of Colombo, and other distinguished academics will be attending the ceremony. Key industry personnel are also expected to attend this event. The guests of honour at the event will be the Director, Education of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK, Dr. Trevor Watkins and the Head of the Department of the Department of Actuarial Mathematics & Statistics of the Heriot-Watt University, UK, Prof. Angus Mc Donald.
Participation of key-persons of the international actuary industry is an indication of their commitment towards the quality and recognition of this Masters Degree in Actuarial Science offered by the University of Colombo.
