President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (February 11) declared the Vavuniya Campus, affiliated to the Jaffna University, as a state university named ‘Vavuniya University’.

Accordingly, the institution will be considered the 17th state university in Sri Lanka.

The Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Faculty of Business and the English Language Unit affiliated to the University of Jaffna were established in 1997 as the Vavuniya Campus.

The students and the lecturers have been requesting for a long time to upgrade the Vavuniya Campus to a National University. Taking this into consideration, the government developed the University of Vavuniya as a smart university with modern facilities including lecture halls, faculty buildings and playgrounds under the Higher Education Development Programme in line with the National Policy Framework ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

The PMD statement added that President Rajapaksa was accorded a warm welcome by the residents of the area gathered at the Vavuniya University hostel grounds. He has engaged in a cordial discussion with the residents and inquired about the issues pertaining to the area.

The Head of State unveiled the plaque marking the upgrading of the Vavuniya Campus into a National University and handed over the University’s Centre for Information Technology and the Centre for Coexistence to students.

The President, expressing his views with the students of the Faculty of Information Technology, said that if one could convey the gained knowledge to his or her own region, it would be of great service to their village and the country.

Addressing the gathering, President Rajapaksa said the government hopes to create intellectuals who are resilient to future social changes, through education. 

For a country to be empowered, its education system should be strengthened. Pointing out that this is a productive investment, the President said that the government has given priority to uplifting national education.

At present, the number of students admitted annually to universities has increased. The President assured that steps would be taken to gradually raise the number of students admitted to universities by fulfilling other needs and facilities including university hostels.

The President commended the expeditious steps taken by the university system to reform the curriculum to suit the social needs by imparting knowledge on English language and information technology to the students studying in the arts stream.

While pointing out that the need of the hour is to identify the areas with the highest job demand in the world and to produce educated people, the President added that it is the responsibility of a government to provide facilities for all the students who have passed A/L examination to continue education up to the university degree level.

The President invited all university students to join in building national co-existence in the hearts of their friends, at the dormitory, at the lecture room, at the stadium and in the dining room.

He noted that the bonds made at the University are strong and that such strong relationships will be of great help in the development of the country.

Ministers Dinesh Gunawardena, Douglas Devananda, Governor of the Northern Province Jeevan Theagarajah, MPs Kader Masthan, Kulasingham Thileepan, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Prof. Kapila Gunawardena, Chairman of the University Grants Commission Senior Professor Sampath Amaratunga, other professors, lecturers and undergraduates were present at the inauguration ceremony.