Thousands of children in Sri Lanka have entered General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) to fulfill their dreams for higher education, says Defence Secretary, Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne.

“The KDU has been open to everyone who deserves. A valuable opportunity has been created for students who are Advanced Level (A/L) qualified in terms of the directions of the President and the Prime Minister for the maximum use of human capital, available resources and the vast knowledge that can be disseminated by the KDU”, he noted.

The Defence Secretary made these remarks during a program aired by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) to discuss the newly drafted Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill.

Education Ministry Secretary, Prof. Kapila Perera and KDU Vice Chancellor, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Milinda Peiris also expressed their views on the proposed piece of legislation.

The student intake to national universities has been increased to 41,000 under the direction of the President in consultation with the Minister of Education, Secretary of the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission, Gunaratne said.

“Despite the increase in the student intake, a considerable segment of A/L qualified students are still unable to pursue their higher education”.

He said there’s a drain of foreign exchange as affluent parents send their children for studies to universities overseas. Some other parents enroll their children to local university colleges affiliated to foreign universities, which again means that substantial foreign currency is transferred overseas.

“However, children of poor families in our country are deprived of avenues to fulfill their higher education dreams as they are not in a position to afford a costly education in foreign universities”, the Defence Secretary said, while asking whether it is wrong to afford an opportunity to deserving students to make their life a success.

Dismissing allegations leveled against the proposed KNDU Bill, he said the picture painted by some sections over so-called militarization of education was totally baseless.

Referring to Defence Universities in the world, he pointed out that well-qualified and academically sound senior military officers serve as Vice Chancellors (VC) of such institutions and the KDU VC is also such a qualified official who is supported by the academic staff consisting mostly of civil scholars including the Deputy VC responsible for academic matters.

The Defence Secretary further assured that the future graduates produced by the KDU would be academically sound, well-disciplined scholars who possess leadership qualities,

“Education is a very powerful tool and every one of us has been nurtured through education”, Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera said.

KDU Vice Chancellor Maj. Gen. Milinda Peiris elaborated on the various stages of the evolution of the University in line with available provisions and the procedure being followed to elevate the KDU to an internationally-recognized University similar to all other National Universities in Sri Lanka.