EDULINK international campus to deliver job-ready graduates

Victoria Higher Education Campus (VHEC) rebranded as EDULINK International Campus (EIC)

Edulink Consultants CEO Bharath Ratteshwal (right) and EIC Campus Director Kanishka Weeramunda at the press conference – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

By Shehana Dain

After a three-year pilot run in the Sri Lankan education industry, EIC has rebranded itself and is ready to offer world-class UK degrees from the University of Greenwich and other leading UK universities.

Speaking at the event, EIC Campus Director Kanishka Weeramanda said that the campus was focusing on creating jobs beyond 2018, and by analysing current market trends and movements they were striving to create better standards in the education provided by the campus. 

“We train our students for global markets. Our students can work anywhere in the world,” he said. 

Weeramanda stressed that the internship programs and job training advice offered by EIC during the course filled a vacuum in the job industry for job-ready graduates. 

The campus aims to provide students with an exciting new corporate image, creating opportunities for students who are interested in gaining educational qualifications in international business, accounting, finance and IT as well as enrolling in MBA and MSC programs. 

EIC interacts with leading employers in Sri Lanka in order to enhance employment prospects for graduates and provide internships for current students. 

“We have been in the Sri Lankan market for three years and, with an in-depth understanding of the Sri Lankan education industry, we understood that adopting the name EDULINK would help us build a global brand due to the greater recognition it gives us internationally,” Weeramanda said. 

As a collaborative campus of the University of Greenwich, EIC promises to deliver high quality standards. 

“Our campuses are subject to the same rigorous quality assurance procedures present at any university in the UK. The degree programs offered at our campuses are recognised the world over because they’re validated and monitored in exactly the same way and to precisely the same standards,” EDULINK consultants CFO Bharath Ratteshwal said. 

“These stringent standards give us a cutting edge against our competitors,” he elaborated.

Weeramanda stated that one of the main reasons they crossed the threshold of the Sri Lankan market was to cater to students who were eligible to enter the higher education sector but were unable to do so due to a lack of infrastructure. 

“According to statistics, 140,000 students in Sri Lanka qualify to enter universities but unfortunately the infrastructure of Government universities and private universities that are UGC-approved can only accommodate 34,000 students a year. We saw this as an opportunity,” he noted. 

EIC works closely with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Higher Education in supporting its aim of becoming an educational hub in the region. It has developed close partnerships with other reputable organisations, such as the British Council and the British Computer Society in Sri Lanka. 

The campus is equipped for 1,000 students and offers facilities that include a library, IT labs and Wi-Fi accessibility. The minimum qualification of the academic staff is a Masters Degree with a minimum of five years experience. The campus offers a part-time faculty as well which has proven to be one of its greatest strengths.

As part of their CSR initiative, EIC has involved itself with education development. The campus is currently engaged in discussions with the Government to come up with a special scholarship program called ‘Ranaviru Scholarships for our forces’, through which they plan to award scholarships to deserving students.