Seventy three students who successfully completed their degree programmes in Computing, Business Information Technology and Business Administration were awarded Staffordshire University, UK degrees at the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) – Sri Lanka Convocation - 2006 held at the BMICH on Friday, 10th of December 2006.   Professor Adrian Low of Staffordshire University who chaired the Convocation and awarded the degrees commented on the outstanding results achieved by APIIT students; he pointed out that 26% of students have obtained first class honours passes.

The colourful ceremony was a joyous occasion where students who entered APIIT as young undergraduates finally reaped the fruits of their hard labour and formally bid goodbye to ‘student life’.  Reflecting the high standards of education at APIIT leading to overall personality development, the graduands marched on to the stage to receive their awards brimming with confidence; they surely appeared poised to take on the challenges of career and life ahead.

The CEO of APIIT-Sri Lanka, Dr. Athula Pitigala-Arachchi, in his address, stated that he is proud of the great strides the organization has made over the years; he stated that APIIT has emerged as the indisputable leader in quality higher education in the private sector and attributed this success to consistent upholding of high standards and quality of education programmes.

“The adoption of international curricula to suit the Sri Lankan context, recruitment and retention of top quality lecturers, making strategic investments to maintain the teaching facilities at the cutting edge, and efficient delivery and management of educational programmes are the critical factors that underpin our success” commented Dr. Pitigala-Arachchi.  He expressed confidence that APIIT’s search for excellence reflected as a desire to go beyond accepted levels of performance will help establish new benchmark standards for higher education in Sri Lanka.

Dr Pitigala-Arachchi said that there is an urgent need to expand opportunities for higher education and promote access.  He pointed out that APIIT-Sri Lanka, with an annual intake of more than 400 students, makes a valuable contribution to increasing higher education opportunities and manpower development in the country.

Commenting on graduate unemployment in the country, Dr. Pitigala-Arachchi stressed the need to improve relevance and quality of higher education; he opined that, with the support of international partners, APIIT could play a leading role in promoting high standards and quality of higher education throughout the country.

The Executive Director of APIIT - Malaysia, Dr. Parmjit Singh, who graced the APIIT - Sri Lanka Convocation as Chief Guest, congratulated APIIT-Sri Lanka for being able to match the high standards of education provided by renowned universities across the globe. 

APIIT - Sri Lanka, in association with APIIT - Malaysia and Staffordshire University, UK, is part of an international collaboration with links to a wide range of reputable universities in the UK and Australia. APIIT - Sri Lanka's principal purpose is to produce high quality graduates who are true professionals in Computing/ IT and Business Management.