Thanks to the establishment of a higher education institution 31 years ago this month, Sri Lankans
anywhere in the country can take their own time and pace to study and obtain a degree and even proceed to climb up to post-graduate level.

The institution is the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) set up in line with the concept of 'openness.' The university policy on admission enables a person to register at the lowest 'level' with mere basic literacy and then proceed along.

Based on the concept of Distance Education, the institution is a 'University without walls.' It functions through a dynamic network of regional and study centres, with knowledge imparted through multiple media. Moreover, the students need not disrupt their work commitments to pursue studies, as they can interact with especially designed self-instructional materials where the materials function as 'Tutor in Print.'

Hence, the Open University system provides the learner the best possible learning opportunities for them to balance their personal, work related and academic obligations.

The University was set up by the Government of Sri Lanka under the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978 for the purpose of providing higher educational opportunities to working adults – providing them the road to success, surpassing age, vocation, gender, race, ethnicity and religion.

The Open University is unique within the national university system in being the only university to offer programmes of study leading to certificate, diploma, degree, postgraduate diploma and postgraduate degree through the Distance Mode.

In its Vision, the University intends to be "a leader in Open and Distance Learning renowned for excellence, in human resource development and empowerment of people to achieve their potential."
Its Mission is "to enhance opportunities for life-long learning of adults through Open and Distance Learning and support excellence in research and scholarship."

Basically, there are four faculties in the Open University. They are Education, Engineering Technology, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. There are several departments under each
faculty. The largest faculty is Humanities & Social Sciences with nearly 9,000 following its programmes. There are four departments – Language Studies, Legal Studies, Management Studies and Social Studies in this faculty.

In the Education Faculty are three departments – Early Childhood, Secondary & Tertiary, and Special Needs. A host of technical courses are available in the Faculty of Engineering Technology while seven departments in the Natural Sciences Faculty guide the students in science subjects.

While the main campus is in Nawala, the Open University has four Regional Centres, 17 Study Centres and six Teaching Centres. The Regional Centres are situated in Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy and Matara.

The Open University is one of the 15 universities administered by the University Grants Commission.