The 10th Annual Graduation Ceremony of the BCS (Chartered Institute for IT) was held on November 1, at the BMICH with the participation of over 500 awardees and their parents and well wishers.
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The Chief Guest at this event was Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs and the Guest of Honour was Mrs. Sharon Hurd, Head of Higher Education and Qualifications Department.
Among the awardees were 193 graduates that completed the BCS Professional Graduate Diploma (PGD) Level thereby gaining a qualification that is equivalent to a UK Honours Degree. This enables them to proceed to a Master’s Level qualification and also gain fruitful employment, in a minimum amount of time, at a fraction of the cost of a standard UK Degree Programme. This is one of the main reasons why the BCS Higher Education Qualifications (HEQ), formerly known as the Professional Qualifications attracts a large number of professionals from the industry, as well as new recruits directly after leaving secondary school.
Dr. Sarath Amunugama, during his speech mentioned that the private sector has a large part to play in the Sri Lankan Educational System due to the fact that less than 19,000 students are allocated slots in the local universities, and less than 10,000 students travel abroad for entry into foreign universities. It is up to organizations in the private sector to cater to the more than 100,000 eligible people to provide them with a way to advance themselves both academically and professionally. He recognized the role played by the BCS by giving opportunities to the local students.
Mr. Sameera Weerasekera receives his prize from the CEO of ESOFT |
Ms. Dilani Perera receives her prize from the CEO of ESOFT |
Mr. Ravindu Wijewickrama receives his prize from the CEO of ESOFT |
Left to Right - Mr. RavinduWijewickrama (Certificate Level Winner), Mrs. Sharon Hurd - Head of HEQ & Qualifications Dept, Dr. Dayan Rajapaksa - CEO of ESOFT, Ms.Dilani Perera (PGD Level Winner), Mr. Sameera Weerasekera (Diploma Level Winner), Mr. Subramaniam Gopinath (Manager - BCS HEQ, ESOFT) |
Left to Right - Ms. Sharon Hurd - Manager Professional Examinations - BCS, Ms.Tiloka De Silva - Award winner, Mr. Jayasri Pathma Kumara - Award winner, Mr.Graham Morris - Manager International Sales - BCS, Ms. Thushani Siriwardhana - Award winner, Dr. Dayan Rajapakse - CEO/MD ESOFT Computer Studies Pvt. Ltd. |
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ESOFT has identified her role well, with regard to the way that they can contribute in building up the knowledge infrastructure of Sri Lanka. This was exemplified by the fact that most of the students who received their Certificates, Diplomas, and Professional Graduate Diplomas were students that had studied at ESOFT, in all parts of the country.
The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the Special Awards. A total of seven prizes were on offer at this year's Graduation Ceremony, and all of these were claimed by students of ESOFT Namely:
1. Sri Lankan Prize - Certificate Level : Won by Mr. Ravindu Wijewickrama
2. World Prize - Certificate Level : Won by Mr. Ravindu Wijewickrama
3. Sri Lankan Prize - Diploma Level : Won by Mr. Sameera Weerasekera
4. PROMS-G World Prize - Project Management : Won by Mr. Sameera Weerasekera
5. Sri Lankan Prize - PGD Level : Won by Ms. Dilani Perera
6. World Prize - PGD Level : Won by Ms. Dilani Perera
7. Gold Medal for Best Candidate : Won by Ms. Dilani Perera
The Management and Academic Panel were thrilled with the performance of the students, and this was mostly a repeat of the performance that was shown at the 2008 Graduation Ceremony. Although the prize winners are not known until the announcement at the ceremony, the invitees from ESOFT came prepared with a bit of foresight and came along with Brand New Netbook Computers to be presented to the winners. The winning students were therefore happy to walk away with not only the awards given by the BCS, but gifts from ESOFT as well.
One of the secrets behind the great performances at ESOFT is the fact that ESOFT is Sri Lanka's only Accredited Course Provider. Registered course providers (entry-level) are committed to a code of practice which requires them to ensure that students are treated fairly and are properly informed about the examinations.
Accredited course providers (higher level) have become registered and then had their course provision successfully assessed by BCS examiners.
The BCS Higher Education Qualifications (HEQ) are a popular choice due to the following reasons:
1. BCS HEQ is the fastest path to obtain a UK Degree Level Qualification - namely, the three levels of the qualification can be completed within 18 to 20 months which is half of the time that you would invest in a Degree Programme.
2. ESOFT offers the BCS (HEQ) course in Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Matara, and Negombo. We recently expanded into the North and the East thereby making the course available in Jaffna and Batticaloa as well.
3. BCS (HEQ) is the most economical option - the total investment including course fees, textbooks, examination fees is approximately Rs. 225,000
4. The Qualification is modular and students can choose the order in which they complete it. Some students do either the Certificate and Diploma levels in one sitting or the Diploma and PGD levels in one sitting, thereby reducing the time to complete the entire programme.
5. There are two examination sittings per year - April and October. This considerably enhances your opportunity to complete the qualification at your earliest.
6. Classes at ESOFT are held in part time mode on the weekends either only on Saturday or sonly on Sunday, and also on weekdays in the evenings after 5.45 p.m. Fulltime classes are also available for those that would like to receive additional value through our popular BCS Plus programme.
7. At any given time, we have ten or more batches of the BCS Certificate Level classes, and three or more batches for the Diploma and PGD levels, thereby increasing your chances of finding a class that matches your schedule. Students are given the flexibility of choosing their classes / subjects from different batches to suit their busy schedules.
8. We have established links with Institutions in the UK thereby allowing a student that completes the BCS Diploma level here with us to proceed to the UK to complete the final year of a B.Sc (Hons) Degree in Computing at an affordable fee. Students can then obtain a two year working visa with the potential of earning back many times their investment.
9. Students that complete the BCS Diploma also have the option of joining in to our UK Top-Up Degree Programme and completing their B.Sc (Hons) Degree in an additional eight (8) months of study. Classes will be conducted in Sri Lanka and students will fly to Singapore for their final exams.
ESOFT is now in the process of enrolling new students for the next examination which is to be in April 2010. Registrations for a few batches have already been closed, and new batches have been scheduled to cater to the demand. All registrations for the next exam will be closed in the month of November. Students are therefore kindly notified to book their place early to avoid disappointment.
BCS is currently going through a metamorphosis as it has aligned itself as the Chartered Institute for IT (CIIT) thereby paving the pathway for Professional members to attain Chartered Status. With the full implementation of this change-over, BCS HEQ will undoubtedly gain more prominence and more recognition in the ICT industry both nationally and internationally. Many leading organizations in Sri Lanka already provide lucrative employment to BCS qualified professionals, and academic organizations such as Sri Lankan Universities are accepting the BCS Qualification as an entry qualification into their Master’s Degrees.
Industry analysts point out that this is one of the main reasons behind the current trend of students who are enrolled in other Degree programmes taking up BCS HEQ in parallel, thereby gaining double qualifications for themselves. There is also a tendency for students to complete upto the Diploma level of the BCS HEQ, and then switch over to the final (3rd) year of a UK Honours Degree either here in Sri Lanka or in the UK. This makes sense as the BCS Diploma can be completed in less than twelve months thereby saving more than a year of your time, along with a considerable amount of money as well.
Students and professionals that wish to obtain more information about the contents of this article, or about the Course Provider are invited to visit, or call on 0117 555 545 to talk to our specially trained Student Counsellors on how best you can leverage this qualification to suit your requirements. You can also obtain more information by visiting www.esoft.lk |
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