ESOFT Metro Campus

Last updated

ESOFT Metro Campus
Company typePrivate Limited Liability Company
IndustryEducation and training
Founded26 June 2000 (2000-06-26)
Founder Dayan Rajapakse
HeadquartersNo 3, De Fonseka Place, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka
6°53′18.5″N79°51′29″E / 6.888472°N 79.85806°E / 6.888472; 79.85806
Area served
Sri Lanka
Key people
Dayan Rajapakse (MD) Nishan Sembacuttiaratchy (CEO)
Website www.esoft.lk

ESOFT Metro Campus (previously known as ESOFT Computer Studies) is a private sector educational institute or college located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It offers academic and professional qualifications in Computing, Business & Management, Engineering, Hospitality and English. Established in the year 2000, the company today has 40 branches nationwide. It is headed by Dr. Dayan Rajapakse. [1]

Contents

Early years

ESOFT was established in Kirilapone (which is a suburban area of Colombo, Sri Lanka), and initially offered training services for students that were preparing for the BCS (UK) Professional Examinations. [2] They subsequently moved to their present location in Bambalapitiya (Colombo) which is a hub for IT training in Sri Lanka [ citation needed ].

Programmes

Programmes taught at ESOFT Metro Campus are organised into five schools or divisions. These are: School of Computing, School of Business, School of Engineering and Technology, School of Hospitality Management and the Language Academy.[ citation needed ]

School of Computing

Degree programmes available at the ESOFT School of Computing include the Bachelors in Information Technology (BIT) awarded by the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) and the BSc (Hons) in Computing and BEng (Hons) in Software Engineering awarded by the London Metropolitan University.[ citation needed ]

Students can also opt to follow professional qualifications such as the Certificate, Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) awarded by the British Computer Society (BCS – Chartered Institute of IT) and the BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computing and Systems Development awarded by Edexcel.[ citation needed ]

In addition, ESOFT also conducts several vendor certification programmes including those for Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle. [3]

School of Business

The ESOFT School of Business conducts classes for both Bachelors and Masters level Business Administration qualifications awarded by the London Metropolitan University.[ citation needed ]

Students can also opt to follow professional qualifications such as the BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Management awarded by Edexcel. [4]

School of Engineering and Technology

The ESOFT School of Engineering and Technology conducts classes for both Bachelors and Masters level qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Civil Engineering and Construction Management. These are awarded by the Kingston University London. [5]

School of Hospitality Management

The ESOFT School of Hospitality Management offers professional qualifications such as the BTEC HNDs in Travel and Tourism Management and Hospitality Management awarded by Edexcel.[ citation needed ]

Language Academy

The language academy offers Pearson Assured courses in both academic and professional English.[ citation needed ]

Recognition

Although ESOFT started teaching for the BCS Exams in 2000, ESOFT was designated as an Accredited Course Provider of the BCS in the year 2007, in recognition of the standards that are maintained in the course delivery. [6] ESOFT is the only organisation in the world to be accredited for all three levels of the BCS Higher Education Qualifications (as at November 2010). [6] ESOFT has also produced several prize winners (high achievers) over the past few years for the BCS and BIT programmes. [7]

The University of Moratuwa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ESOFT appointing it as a Collaborative Partner for offering the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) External Degree. Such an appointment is made after an extensive evaluation process and ESOFT is one of only three such partners to be appointed. [8] [9] ESOFT currently conducts the BIT programme in Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Jaffna. As of 2011, the University of Moratuwa has stopped conducting the programme online and is working purely via the partner mode.[ citation needed ]

Edexcel (UK) has Accredited ESOFT to conduct the Higher National Diploma (HND) Programmes in Computing since 2009 and Business Management since 2010. [10]

In September 2019, ESOFT Metro Campus Colombo was recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC) as a Non State Degree Awarding Institution. [11] This means that ESOFT can officially award their own degrees. The first degree to be introduced was the Bachelor of Information Technology Honours degree. The Bachelor of Business Management Honours degree was approved in 2021 with the first intake scheduled for 2022 February.[ citation needed ]

Partnerships, Affiliations, and Memberships

CSR Activities

ESOFT is involved in several Corporate Social Responsibility activities and one of the most recent is their platinum level sponsorship of the Edex 2011 Education and Careers Expo held in January 2011. [20] ESOFT also has a Mobile Unit – a bus fitted with 20 workstations – which is sent to rural areas and to schools to provide positive experiences to students who may not have even seen or used a computer before. [21]

As of 2012, ESOFT has been a co-sponsor of the Royal College Blue & Gold Hockey 7's Tournament which is organised with the participation of school teams from around the nation [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]

In 2015, ESOFT started the E-Thilina project [27] [28] in partnership with Sirasa TV. The aim of the project was to donate complete computing labs to deserving and rural schools so as to provide children with the opportunity to learn IT/ICT at an early age. The project was continued into the year 2016 as well. Each lab consists of a minimum of 8 modern networked PC's along with a Laser Printer. Tables and Chairs and Carpeting are also provided, with the complete cost borne by ESOFT. Sirasa TV provides coverage via their media network. [29] [30] Two of the computer labs were opened by the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena. [31] The E-Thilina project was concluded in 2018 after a successful run of 3 years where 33 computer labs were donated to public schools around the country.[ citation needed ]

ESOFT has also partnered with the Ranaviru Seva Authority of the State Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Defence to offer scholarships and savings on course fees for members of the Armed Forces and their families. The special loyalty card is known as Virusara Privilege, and was launched by the President Maithripala Sirisena. [32] [33]

In 2021, ESOFT launched an islandwide scholarship programme for IT and English, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the State Ministry of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development. A total of 10,000 full scholarships and 20,000 half scholarships were awarded as part of this programme. [34]

Awards and Recognitions

Branching Out

ESOFT started expanding into regional areas in 2005 and then launched the Accelerated Expansion Project (AEP) to increase the total number of branches to 27 by the end of the year 2010, with more branches being opened thereafter

Serial NoBranch LocationDate Established
1Colombo2000
2Kurunegala2005
3Kandy2006
4Battaramulla2006
5Kotahena2006 (closed in 2009)
6Anuradhapura2006
7Matara2008
8Piliyandala2008
9Negombo2008
10Jaffna2009
11Nelliady2009 (closed)
12Batticaloa2009
13Bandarawela2010
14Nawalapitiya2010 (closed in 2018)
15Kilinochchi2010 (closed)
16Chavakachcheri2010 (closed)
17Matale2010
18Embilipitiya2010
19Ja-Ela2010
20Galle2010
21Kalmunai2010
22Kiribathgoda2010
23Kegalle2010
24Vavuniya2010 (closed in 2016)
25Mannar2010 (closed in 2013)
26Polonnaruwa2010
27Wattala2010
28Wennappuwa2010
29Minuwangoda2011
30Monaragala2011
31Kuliyapitiya2011
32Gampaha2011
33Hatton2011
34Nittambuwa2011 (closed in 2013)
35Homagama2011
36Hambanthota (closed in 2016)2011
37Ratnapura2011
38Nugegoda2012
39Katubedda2013
40Chilaw2013
41Kekirawa2013
42Badulla2013
43Kalutara2013
44Ambalangoda2013
45Panadura2013
46Narammala2013
47Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh2016
48Tangalle2016
49Nittambuwa2018

References

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  4. Shaman, Eranga. "Education Times – Undergraduate and Postgraduate Business Degrees at ESOFT School of Business". Educationtimes.lk. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
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  11. "Extraordinary Gazette Notification" (PDF). documents.gov.lk. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
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  30. "ESOFT-Sirasa E-Thilina donates computer lab to Rikillagaskada Vidyakara Maha Vidyalaya". ft.lk. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
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