Jaffna University to tie-up with Indian universities

In a diplomatic move and to boost cultural ties between India and Sri Lanka, University of Jaffana is planning to collaborate with Indian Universities. The tie-up is being taken forward to strengthen educational sector in the two countries, said Vice Chancellor of the University Vasanthi Arasarathnam. Taking the first step, the university has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with University of Madras.

According to a report by Press Trust of India, India has provided a financial help of Rs 600 million to the universities for building the infrastructure for teaching engineering courses.

The construction by University of Jaffna has already begun. Addressing a conference on 'Women Entrepreneurship Ecosystem-present and future' at the National Institute of Technology, the VC said women in India and Sri Lanka had similar lifestyle, family set up, duties, and responsibilities. She wanted women to become entrepreneurs.

M M M Najim, Vice-Chancellor of South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, said women should be motivated to become entrepreneurs. He also said that many women had lost their husbands during the civil war in Lanka and they were looking for career opportunities. Some had gone for employment in foreign countries.

Speaking at the event, Rani Muralidharan, president of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu said that women are being given training on different entrepreneurial skills such as raising funds, creating access to markets, augmenting managerial skills to enhance their participation as entrepreneurs.

The professor of Management, National Institute of Technology also adressed the conference and said that the project on business and management for the capacity development of rural women entrepreneurs, funded by The Asia Foundation, had come as a boost to bring a number of rural women of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka under the fold of entrepreneurs.

PTI