By Ifham Nizam

UK degrees will be available to students studying at the John Keells Institute (JKI), from this year.

JKI Director Sujeeva Cooray at a press conference yesterday said that the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in the UK has recognised the BTEC Higher National Development (HND) programme conducted by the JKI and has agreed in principle to deliver a one year degree programme in Colombo.

The degree programme will supplement the BTEC HND programme and will lead to a BSc (Hons.) degree in computing from the university.

Cooray said: "Chris Watts of Northumbria University visited JKI in February and had initial talks with us. The Director International along with the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tony Dickson will visit JKI next month to finalise arrangements.

"A three year degree programme in the UK could cost more than Rs. five million per student, the same course could be followed by four students in Sri Lanka for the cost paid per student in the UK.

"Therefore, the degree offered in Colombo will be a tremendous saving to our students," added Cooray.

Cooray also said that reputed IT employers are often consulted on the design of the courses to ensure that they are industry relevant and up-to-date.

"This course provides a unique combination of academic and vocational skills. This course gives true programme skills," said Cooray.

Asked how many students they are targeting to enrol to the degree programme, he said that they are hoping to get at least 40 students.