University of Colombo has extended the ground-breaking online learning initiative, Mobitel ‘mLearning’, to promote distance learning for government employees who now have the opportunity to obtain a local post-graduate degree while residing in any part of the world.

The ‘mLearning’ solution is an exclusive learning platform designed and developed by Mobitel. It is the only commercially available comprehensive facility in Sri Lanka that allows students to follow a complete university course without the need to be physically present in a classroom. As the pioneer of the distance learning solution, The Faculty of Graduate Studies(FGS), University of Colombo has trained hundreds of students who have benefited from the programme since its inception in 2008.

To promote distance education to government sector employees University of Colombo initiated a Master’s Degree Programme in Public Administration, Master’s Degree Programme in Public Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, Executive Diploma in Marketing and Executive Diploma in Public Management and Governance via mLearning. The programme provides government employees stationed in distant regions outside the Western Province an opportunity to further pursue their education to meet the needs of a competitive global market.

As part of the recruitment criteria, government employees are often required to hold a Master’s Degree in Public Administration for career advancement and promotions.

In a recent interview with the ongoing programme a student Mr. Nanthakumar, Senior Assistant Registrar, Faculty of Agriculture of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, said “I’m a resident of Vavuniya working in Anuradhapura, therefore, I rarely visit Colombo. If not for mLearning, I will not have the opportunity to do my Master’s in Public Administration. I really appreciate the service provided by mLearning. If not for it, following a master’s at the University of Colombo would not be possible. I think mLearning is a golden opportunity for people who reside outside Colombo to pursue their higher education.”

National Hospital Colombo, Officer in Charge of OPD Dr. (Mrs.) K.M Ranathunga, commented, “I wanted to increase my knowledge in administration and I looked for a trusted and accredited program. With my busy schedule it was impossible to join a regular master’s program. With mLearning I could attend lectures from convenient location and could have interactive sessions with the lecturer and the fellow participants. It was very convenient for me as there was no time wasted on travelling.”

“I wanted to improve my administration skills in the government sector and was unable to follow a master’s program due to the location I am based in, and because I had to work on weekends as well. With the mLearning distance program I was able to attend classes from remote areas such as Thirappane in the North Central Province and join active classroom discussions and receive a quality education without infrastructural barriers. I should also mention that the Mobitel 3G signals allowed me to follow lectures uninterrupted,” stated Veterinary Surgeon of the Department of Animal Production and Health, Dr. W.V.L.L Jayathilaka who followed the Masters in Public Administration.

“The feature that is most special about ‘mLearning’ is that it provides online students’ access to the same level of quality education received by a student who attends university for lectures. We want to ensure that there is equal opportunity for everyone to follow a university programme of their choice irrespective of where they live or what their circumstances are,” University of Colombo Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Prof. Sunil Chandrasiri stated.

The University of Colombo and Mobitel launched ‘mLearning’, as an innovative learning initiative to provide a new gateway to higher education in the country. The platform has been introduced to many leading educational institutes such as, the University of Kelaniya, CIMA Sri Lanka (South East Asia Region), PIM – Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardanapura, Sri Lanka College of Surgeons and Kandy Society of Medicine Kotalawala Defense Academy. ‘mLearning’ is now integrated with Cisco Webex, the world’s most advanced web conferencing platform which brings device independency by allowing students to participate in lectures via their PC, iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows or Blackberry devices.