National Defence University Hailed With President’s And University Colours | Print Edition

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On August 25, 2022, His Excellency the President Ranil Wickremesinghe awarded President’s and University Colours to the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in recognition of its extensive, exceptional, and inestimable service to the nation through higher education for maintaining and ensuring the nation’s security as well as its undeniable contribution to the realisation of sustainable development in the country.

The need for enhancing the tri-services with officer ranks with high attainment in knowledge and abilities in defence services and management evolved in the socio-economic and political climate that prevailed in Sri Lanka in the 1970s. In this context, it became a national need of paramount importance to produce such officers for the three services going beyond the traditional military training and embodying the idea of “togetherness” among tri-service officers. This would eventually make it easier for the security forces to work cohesively and efficiently to ensure national security of the country, and to achieve this end, a tri-service defence academy was proposed in the late 1970s.

As a result, the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) was established under the Parliamentary Act No. 68 of 1981, and since then the academy dedicated itself to the task of equipping selected youths to serve the armed forces with higher intellectual strength and strategic acumen achieved through higher education in academic disciplines relevant for different professional domains in the tri-services. Initially, degrees for KDA officers were awarded by the University of Moratuwa and the University of Colombo, and in 1988, the degree-awarding capacity was granted to the academy by an amendment Act, allowing KDA to run its own Bachelor’s degree programmes.

Despite being a university, its name remained as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy until it was renamed as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in 2007, through another amendment Act in keeping with the government’s goal of making Sri Lanka an educational hub in Asia. Following the end of the civil war in 2009, the Defence University changed its focus and broadened its reach by making its resources also available to deserving civilian youths giving them the opportunity to earn an academic degree in a well-organised and disciplined environment. Through this change, the KDU was able to continue operating at full capacity and offer tri-service officer cadets, officers and civilian day scholars the much-needed higher education at the bachelor’s and postgraduate levels.

By identifying national goals and contemporary challenges of the country and adapting itself to meet the demands, the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University has developed into a top institution of higher learning in the country offering Bachelors to Doctoral level degrees. It has also fulfilled its role of training personnel and disseminating knowledge, with the core of all innovations, expansions, and activities being intrinsically connected with its mandate of working to preserve national security, through an integrated mechanism..

By enrolling in degree programmes offered by the faculties of Postgraduate Studies, Defence and Strategic Studies, Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Social Sciences and Humanities, Allied Health Sciences, Built Environment and Spatial Sciences, Computing, Technology, and Criminal Justice, the University now offers opportunities for the nation’s youths and professionals to satisfactorily fulfill their higher education ambitions within the country without seeking expensive overseas education. These academic faculties have ensured that the degree programmes offered by them have a high professional value, are benchmarked with international standards, and are accepted by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka.

In addition to the aforementioned, KDU has been successful in drawing a sizable number of international students from countries like the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Rwanda,  Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, and the United States, which is a distinct indicator of the international recognition of KDU degree programmes. As a result, KDU is now regarded as a forward-thinking institution of higher learning that is confident in its potential to fulfill Sri Lanka’s ambition to become an Asian centre for higher education. This has also contributed to the development of a distinctive cultural fusion on KDU campuses, fostering a climate that encourages local students to develop into global citizens. This also offers the country a possible source of foreign exchange earnings.

The university has a well-established, full-fledged medical faculty as well as a state-of-the-art  teaching hospital to help its medical undergraduates with their hands-on training, and the environmentally friendly KDU Hospital serves as a teaching hospital for medical students, and it also offers access for international quality healthcare facilities and specialised consulting services for the general public.

The Defence University has also been a proud contributor to making a healthy nation through the enhancement of high-quality human resources in the field of allied health services in the country. The KDU has been able to produce qualitatively high human resources in the fields of nursing and other allied health professions such as medical laboratory analysts, physiotherapists etc.

Due to KDU’s unique potential in the field of higher education, the government donated 146 acres of land in Sevenagala in the Monaragala district adjacent to Sooriyawewa in the Hambanthota district for the establishment of the Southern Campus of KDU. On May 5, 2015, the new campus was officially opened, and it was equipped with Faculty and Headquarter buildings, well-equipped lecture halls, and housing buildings. As a result of the establishment of the Faculty of Built Environment and Spatial Sciences and the IT Department of the Faculty of Computing in the Southern Campus, deserving civil youths, particularly those from the Southern, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces as well as officer cadets have got the opportunity to pursue degree programmes of the highest caliber in a residential setting. Through this initiative, the KDU has been able to bring higher education to a hitherto underserved periphery, guaranteeing some fairness and equity in the distribution of higher educational opportunities.

It is a national imperative to create a powerful force of educated and knowledgeable tri-service officers equipped with modern knowledge and professional abilities to confidently lead the country’s defence forces. With that goal in mind, the university has increased the number of postgraduate study programmes it offers in areas like logistics management, disaster risk reduction, mechanical, electrical, electronic, and telecommunication engineering and other relevant postgraduate programmes. These programmes are offered through the university’s Faculty of Graduate Studies, which is housed in a modern, seven-story building. Long-term goals of this project include providing the tri-services with the greatest amount of knowledge to aid in strategic planning and decision-making process to support the government and its policy development.

The Defence University has always worked to develop a distinctive research culture. It supports the idea that much research is necessary so that human problems should be scientifically resolved, and that studies into every aspect of human experience should be conducted with an eye to producing concrete results. In order to improve the research landscape of the university in particular and of the nation in general, it accords significant attention to research and innovation through the KDU-CARE, the Institute for Combinatorial Research and Education. Researchers and scientists in fields as diverse as health, biomedicine, biotechnology, chemistry, engineering & technology, computer science and ICT, social sciences, international relations, etc. are engaged in creating new knowledge and breakthroughs. KDU-CARE advocates for high-impact journal articles, partnerships with regional and international research groups, patents, and public-private partnerships for commercialization of research in an effort to close the gap between academia and industry.

By recognising the future requirements of the country and global trends, the university conducts its  International Research Conference in every September on themes relevant to diverse areas to determine the correct orientation of the country to advance in the development processes, and it is held with the involvement of renowned academics and professionals worldwide.

The KDU has bolstered its human and physical resources during the course of its existence over the past four decades. The physical resource developments include modern lecture halls with cutting-edge equipment, auditoriums, laboratories, libraries, physical training facilities, swimming pools, sports fields, sports pavilions, administrative buildings, hostels, lovely gardens, canteens, and restaurants. The university’s human resources are represented by its versatile academic staff that includes professors in all fields of study, committed non-academic staff that includes administrative officers, service and civil support staff, and clerical and other staff members all committed to the advancement of the university, and the major administrative contribution comes from the officers and ranks of the tri-services, which is the main force at the KDU.

Special attention has been given to creating a widespread learning environment at KDU through Memoranda of Understanding with international universities of high repute both in Asia and Europe. Student teacher exchange programmes, research collaborations, and dual degree programmes with renowned universities in the world will no doubt elevate the status of the university and its recognition in the world.

The KDU has enhanced its capacity for offering higher chances for persons in professional domains to fulfill their higher education needs with the recent opening of two new faculties, the Faculty of Technology and the Faculty of Criminal Justice. The Faculty of Technology focuses on generating technologists and technocrats needed for the nation, and the Faculty of Criminal Justice focuses on law enforcement agencies like the Police. These actions would strengthen  the socioeconomic standing of the nation in the long run.

The devotion and dedication of the KDU staff towards work is one of the secrets of its success. The academic and non-academic employees of the university collaborate with tri-service members while upholding the traditions of the defence university to enhance the institution’s reputation, and they contribute their utmost best to the achievement of its objectives. The university administration, on the other hand, works to inspire the employees through a variety of initiatives, including the insurance plan for the permanent staff, yearly service reviews, monetary gifts given twice a year, health services, uniforms, and other welfare facilities made available for university staff.

With all these advancements in every aspect of a university environment, the KDU has now reached considerable heights in the higher education landscape of the country as evident in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking tables 2022, where it has been ranked 2nd in Sri Lanka for Quality of Education. Also, in terms of the overall ranking, it has been placed 4th in the country and among 801-1000 globally.

KDU’s ranking in quality education, which is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, reflects KDU’s contribution to improving student facilities by investing in new infrastructure, establishing state-of-the-art laboratories, initiating the introduction of smart classrooms, providing distance learning facilities, free laptops for students, free Wi-Fi access, food/accommodation facilities, and a variety of other benefits. Further, it is an acclamation of the KDU’s belief that education is a vital means of overcoming inequalities and of its commitment for realising the same through the introduction of new and innovative programmes of study thereby expanding opportunities for higher education for students throughout the country.

In terms of reducing inequality, KDU has been ranked first in the country and 200+ globally. This demonstrates KDU’s commitment to addressing economic, health-based, and international inequalities through a variety of initiatives, including the provision of a range of scholarships for local students enrolled in its degree programmes, free healthcare for registered students through medical facilities on campus, free healthcare for the general public through its state-of-the-art teaching hospital established at Werahera, and the provision of concessionary course fees for international students joining its programmes from regional countries.

Incidentally, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities in terms of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The most recent edition includes 1,524 universities from 110 countries and regions spread across 18 tables – one for each of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), plus one overall ranking. The rankings show the impact across all 17 SDGs based on a series of more than 100 metrics and over 200 measurements covering universities’ teaching, research, community outreach, and stewardship of their own resources.

KDU first entered THE impact ranking tables in 2022, and its remarkable success exemplifies the university’s dedication and commitment to providing high-quality higher education in Sri Lanka to reach international standards.

The awarding of President’s Colours and University Colours to KDU on 25 August 2022 in recognition of its dedicated service to the nation over a period of four decades through its distinctive position as the leader in defence-related higher education in Sri Lanka and extending its dedicated service to resolve national issues through the intervention of research and innovation will be a highly significant historical moment for KDU. This acknowledgment will highlight the National Defence University’s position as a pioneer and an innovator in the disciplines of strategic and national security research.

Particularly throughout the 30-year battle against separatist terrorists, the officers produced by the Defence University fought valiantly even some sacrificing their lives to protect the nation’s territorial integrity, and their contribution for convincingly defeating terrorism is remembered by the grateful nation. One hundred and nine such gallant officers produced by KDU made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland. Many officers ended up with partial or total disabilities. Significant numbers were awarded bravery honours for their great contributions and sacrifices as national heroes. Without doubt, awarding KDU with President’s Colours and University Colours would be a fitting tribute to those valiant young officers produced by the KDU.

Further, these colours would honour the Defence University’s contributions to the nation’s economy through innovations for achieving long-term objectives with the motto “For the Motherland Forever,” by helping to provide higher education opportunities for the country’s youths without adding to the national budget, by supporting the maintenance of foreign exchange reserves, and by reducing the number of students leaving Sri Lanka for higher education opportunities abroad.

This event also honours the Vice Chancellor, Major General Milinda Priyadarshana Peiris, whose vision has been a key factor in the University’s outstanding accomplishments. He is the only Vice Chancellor of KDU to hold the position for two terms.

In the light of this outstanding accomplishments, the nation’s youths look up to the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University to forge ahead down uncharted paths in higher education with courage, tenacity, and resilience, with a clear focus and orientation toward upholding the illustrious name of Sri Lanka’s national defence university and its legacy for many years to come.