OpenArc offers 50 BIT Degree Scholarships for A/L Students

The OpenArc School of Business and Technology offers 50 full scholarships under its innovative ‘Navodhaya’ scholarship scheme to students with an aptitude for Information Technology (IT) to initially follow a one-year diploma course on computer software development at its School followed by the three-year Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) External Degree of the University of Colombo.

These scholarships are open to students who have passed their Advanced Level (A/L) examination with three passes preferably with IT subjects as well. The OpenArc School is offering these scholarships for the third time with an intention of providing best IT education opportunities to students who have excelled in computers and programming. The duration of these fully paid scholarships is four years – one year for the diploma course on computer software development at OpenArc School and thereafter three years reading for the BIT External Degree of the University of Colombo. After completion of first year diploma programme, students will also be provided with jobs at the OpenArc Systems Management which is the software arm of the OpenArc group.

This year too, students from any part of Sri Lanka who have the required basic A/L qualification can apply for these ‘Navodhaya’ scholarships. To create awareness amongst students and parents on this innovative and unique scholarship scheme, OpenArc has made arrangements to conduct an Education and Career Guidance Seminar branded as ‘Choices – 2011’, on September 10, 2011 at 9 am at the New Art Theatre (NAT) Auditorium of the University of Colombo.
In addition to this Seminar organised by the OpenArc School of Business and Technology in collaboration with the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) and the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA), OpenArc has also teamed up with the Ministry of Education to educate students at school-level on this scheme.
The ‘Navodhaya’ scholarships programme has been launched by OpenArc as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative with the objective of producing qualified and competent IT engineers for whom there is a growing global demand. This ‘Navodhaya’ programme which is a government-approved scholarship scheme, was launched three years ago following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between OpenArc and the Ministry of Education.
Commenting on the ‘Navodhaya’ scholarship scheme, Daya Hettiarachchi, Chairman, OpenArc Group of Companies said: “Sri Lanka is a country blessed with large pool of students who have borne IT talents second to none in the world. It is our professional duty to give this segment of the student community the required leadership so that these talents could be developed to world-class Software Engineering. We, the professionally qualified Engineers at OpenArc are dedicated to this noble endeavour”.
“During one year diploma in computer software diploma of the ‘Navodaya’ programme, nine months will be dedicated to imparting theoretical knowledge in Computer Science, Mathematics, English and Programing Languages and then during the balance three months, they will be given practical exposure to software development at our affiliated company, OpenArc Systems Management. After a three-month successful training, these students will be absorbed into the company as trainee computer software developers. Thereafter, they will be continuing their BIT degree on part time basis at the University of Colombo while working as members of OpenArc team. 100% free education and all the expenses including examination fees shall be borne by the company OpenArc, he noted.
He further said that an all-round, extensive knowledge on computer software development will be imparted to students during the diploma course after giving essential knowledge in computer science to be delivered using London A/L computer science syllabus. Then the latest programming languages such as Java, PHP, .Net and Progress will be taught from the beginning.
The BIT External Degree of the University of Colombo has earned wider recognition both nationally and internationally from the software developers’ community. There is a comprehensive syllabus offered under this qualification along with compulsory project to be done in the final year on individual basis. Students will immensely benefit from the exposure at OpenArc in doing this three-year BIT degree study programme.
The salient feature of these ‘Navodhaya’ scholarships is that students will be gaining three years solid practical experience while completing the degree. They will be totally different and much more productive at the time of graduation, Daya Hettiarchchi added.
OpenArc has emerged as a leading higher educational institute which has won recognition and earned reputation as a key provider of ICT education and training in the business and information technology spheres.
The OpenArc School of Business and Technology which was launched as an affiliate company of  OpenArc Systems Management – the pioneering software venture in Sri Lanka providing software solutions to Banks, Finance Companies and many other companies. They who have done many software implementation projects at DFCC Bank, DFCC Vardhana Bank, Hatton National Bank (HNB), Seylan Bank, Bank of Ceylon, People’s Leasing Company PLC and many other key financial institutions. OpenArc has a 75% market share in the sphere of computerisation in the banking, finance and leasing sectors.
As a leading training school, OpenArc was established with the genuine objective of promoting local talents in IT and producing skilled people for the IT industry. The group is completing 20 years of service to the nation and over last two decades it has not only produced more than 2000 IT people for the industry but also saved millions of dollars in foreign exchange by providing locally developed software instead of foreign software to local industries.
From the time, the BIT external Degree programme was launched by the University of Colombo – School of Computing in the year 2000, OpenArc School of Business and Technology has been the pioneering higher education institute which has continuously conducted tutorial classes for BIT and produced best results in every semester.