UCL grooming IT experts through globally recognised Monash programmes
UCL conducts the Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY), a pre-university programme that prepares students to join the Monash College Diplomas offered at UCL or enter the first year at Monash University, including the degrees and majors related to the IT fields - Business information systems, Computer networks and security, Computer science, Creative computing, Cybersecurity, Data science, Games design, Games development, Information and society, IT for business, Mobile apps development, Multimedia development, Software development, Software engineering, and Web development.
To meet the high standards of this globally recognised programme, UCL has built a strong academic and administrative team. All lecturers are either PhD or MSc/ MBA qualified with international- level experience in their respective field of expertise. Student support and close student interaction and guidance are a top priority. Currently the lecturer panel includes 10 full-time and 10 part-time lecturers, with a combined experience of more that 100+ years of teaching IT related subjects in Sri Lanka.
Dr. Dhananjay Kulkarni, Dean at UCL had the following to say about the Monash programmes delivered at UCL, “I believe that Universal College Lanka (UCL) is a very special place for students and staff, and hence we encourage prospective students and parents to explore the information available further and to get to know us better. Based here in the heart of Colombo, currently UCL is in an exclusive partnership with Monash College, Australia, to provide pathways for students to pursue their higher education at Monash University. Monash, as you are probably aware, is a top university in Australia - part of the G8 Universities, ranked 54th in the world, and also top ranked in Engineering and Technology in Australia.”
Coming from a strong IT background, Dr. Dhananjay is aware of the industry trends and had the followings insights to add, “IT sector is growing globally and Sri Lanka is no exception. We have seen many startups in the IT field right here in Sri Lanka and many of them are unique ideas, Apps and software products to satisfy the consumer needs and to make our life easy. IT being an integral part of almost every sector, we are seeing that IT professionals are more and more in demand in all types of industry. In Australia, IT/ Computing professionals have been highly sought- after for a long time and there seems to be no change to this trend. UCL is doing its part in grooming these young minds into becoming top industry professionals – the MUFY and Diploma programmes are a good stepping stone for career success. We are aiming to create industry leaders!”
Speaking about UCL’s growth and academic success, Mr. Gihan Silva, CEO added, “Things are moving very well right now for UCL - with high academic rigour, growth in student enrolment, excellent facilities and wellqualified staff for teaching. In the first 3 years itself we have seen excellent student performance and high pass- rates in the programmes we offer, including many world prizes. Since successful completion of these programmes (with the required prerequisites) guarantees a place at Monash University – either in Australia or Malaysia, many students have already taken this path, and this trend is continuing to grow in
Sri Lanka.”
Ms. Kaleeka Ekanayake, Senior Lecturer in IT has been with UCL from the inception, had the following things to say about how students are being prepared to be industry-ready, “As there is an increasing demand for universities to produce industryready graduates who can fulfil IT job roles and make significant contributions to their employers, they expect graduates to have comprehensive skills and industry-awareness from their university course. In order to satisfy this need and prepare the students to higher study and industry-skills, we practice unique ways of teaching here at UCL, such as close interaction with students in class, getting students to analyse and present the real life case studies, exposure to developing practical skills by designing games/ databases/ user interface applications, etc.”
Mr. Haren Lalchand, Lecturer and IT Systems Executive teaches as well and manages the learning management systems at UCL. While agreeing that using modern teaching tech
niques is important, he added, “The programming languages and software which have market demand are all installed in our IT labs and taught in a way that students learn practical skills and have long- term retention of knowledge, such as for SQL, Python, Visual Studio, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel etc. The curriculum is periodically revised to keep up with the industry practices. As we all know, the basic skills will be needed by all types of professionals in the future, hence, we develop these skills in students who wish to pursue IT-related and nonIT related degrees. Among other things, we also teach Scratch, C++, Mobile App Development.”
Mr Thepul Ginige, Senior Lecturer who teaches Networking and Security related subjects, while mentioning the quality of the curriculum said “Monash subject materials are of very high standard. At UCL we conduct all the labs, practical and simulations needed as per the university requirements. Our IT students become confident and perform very well when they go to the University to do IT related degree.”
Please feel free to visit the state-of-the-art UCL campus at No. 503, Sri Jayewardenepura Mawatha, Sri Jayewardenepura or call UCL on 0774 777 000 to know how you can begin your Monash journey in Sri Lanka. Follow UCL on Instagram ( ucl_ srilanka) Facebook (Monash at UCL) or Youtube channel (UCL Sri Lanka ) for more updates about UCL.