ESOFT’s ESU set to boost SL’s higher education quality

From left: School of Business, ESOFT Metro Campus and ESU Dean Dr. Dillina Herath, Intrepid Travel Global Head of Software Engineering Pradeepa Seneviratna, ESOFT Metro Campus and ESU Chairman and Group Managing Director Dr. Dayan Rajapakse, PickMe Founder and Chief Executive Officer and ICTA Board Director Jiffry Zulfer and ESOFT Metro Campus and ESU CEO and ESOFT International (Singapore) Director Nishan Sembacuttiaratchy participate in an engaging panel discussion on transforming education to bridge the industry-academia gap

Pic by Nimalsiri Edirisinghe

• Marks 25-year milestone in SL’s education landscape
• Launches ESOFT Uni
• Inks MoU with SchoolNet India

By Angelo Peterson

In an effort to uplift Sri Lanka’s higher education landscape, ESOFT announced that it is stepping up efforts in making the island nation a hub for future-ready professionals trained to lead within an interconnected global workforce. 

The institution is actively looking to prevent brain drain, due to an increase in national intellectual capital migrating to foreign countries. This is primarily due to lack of opportunities within the nation. The strategy is to have a 10-year transformative plan to accomplish their vision.  

As per the estimations, nearly 29,000 students leave for foreign countries for higher education every year; these transitions are mostly catered by the private higher education sector and most payments have to be made in USD or GBP. During the dollar crisis, these students were unable to pay their fee to their respective university, due to the local banks not being able to release foreign funds, out of scarcity. In order to prevent such inconveniences in the future and to make global education accessible to all, ESOFT has implemented its 10-year plan. 

These efforts and plans were revealed at the institution’s 25th year anniversary celebrations held recently. 

“For 25 years, our mission has been to make quality education accessible to all. The launch of ESOFT Uni (ESU) marks the next step in that journey, as we separate our higher education operations to ensure even greater focus, quality and global relevance in our undergraduate and postgraduate offerings,” ESOFT Chairman and Group MD Dr. Dayan Rajapakse said.

At the same event, ESOFT marked two significant events: the launch of ESU and MoU exchange with SchoolNet India. 

The institution is continuing to make strategic partnerships with global entities to ensure its vision is accomplished. 

The launch of ESU was to have a dedicated higher education arm to operate independently from ESOFT, its vocational training division. The partnership with SchoolNet India was to ensure skill development and vocational training in Sri Lanka would meet the evolving global demand. The MoU was exchanged between Dr. Rajapakse, CEO Nishan Sembacuttiaratchy, COO Amila Bandara alongside SchoolNet India International Business Lead Himanshu Tiwary. 

As the institution continues to provide vocational training and professional certifications, ESU, with the existing and new strategic partnerships, will offer higher education programmes in artificial intelligence, data science, engineering, business innovation, psychology and creative arts, to ensure greater quality and global relevance in undergraduate and postgraduate offerings.