History of Faculty of Technology

The Government of Sri Lanka introduced the Technology stream to the Sri Lankan school system in 2013 as a strategy of harnessing the talents of youth to capture the advantage of relevant emerging technologies to drive the economy by providing an education that embraces competencies to satisfy the needs of the Nation. The GCE Advanced Level examination although a certification examination, but the results of it also serve for the selection of students for Sri Lankan universities and other higher education institutes. The examinations under this newly introduced technology stream were held for the first time in the year 2015. Hence the introduction of new undergraduate programmes into the Sri Lankan university system by establishing the Faculty of Technology will provide an avenue for those who are ambitious to work in the industry and/or pursue higher studies under the technology stream. Ministry of Education together with the National Institute of Education (NIE) having identified the importance of the knowledge of the Technological subjects, decided to introduce the Technological Stream to the Advanced Level. Several Academics from leading universities have been engaged in the preparation of the syllabuses for the Technological Stream. The Technological stream is to be distinctly identifiable as a separate stream at the Advanced Level and more focused on technology subjects. It comprises of following subjects;

• Engineering Technology
• Biosystems Technology
• Science for Technology

Students could select either Engineering Technology or Biosystems Technology subjects for the Advanced Level. The second subject in the three subjects combination chosen by a student is "Science for Technology" which will provide the necessary fundamentals of science, mathematics and information technology to directly support the learning of the chosen technology subject. "Science for Technology" is compulsory for all students. The third subject could be selected from the following Basket of nine subjects: Economics, Geography, Home Economics, Logic and Scientific Method, Communication and Media Studies, Art, Information and Communication Technology, Business Studies and Agriculture Science.

The Faculty of Technology shall fulfil the mission of the University by building an educational system more suited to the technological needs of the country, which goes beyond the confines of the conventional knowledge systems and requires human resources with the technological skills and experience for the progress of technology in the Country. Eastern University, Sri Lanka had decided to establish the Faculty of Technology to support the government initiation. Thus the project of Establishment of Faculty of Technology at the Eastern University, Sri Lanka was initiated in July 2014. Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka had come forward accepting to prepare a proposal for establishing a Department of Biosystems Technology and designing a curriculum for the Bachelor of Biosystems Technology (BBST) in Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurship degree programme. Initially, a team comprising a few academics from the Faculty of Agriculture took over the responsibilities of developing the curriculum for the Bachelor of Biosystems Technology (BBST) in Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurship degree programme and drafting proposals for establishing the Department of Biosystems Technology and Faculty of Technology. Workshops were organized to understand the student’s attributes, breadth and depth of the curriculum. Subsequently, several senior academics from the Faculty of Agriculture took part in the process and the progress of the proposed curriculum was presented to the University Senate. At this stage, the University Senate recommended establishing the following Departments in the Faculty of Technology.

• Department of Biosystems Technology
• Department of Multidisciplinary Studies
• Department of Information and Communication Technology
• Department of Engineering Technology

The proposed curriculum of BBST in Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurship, proposals for establishing the Department of Biosystems Technology and Faculty of Technology were then recommended to the University Council upon the approval of the University Senate in September 2015. Followed by the recommendation of the University Council in October 2015, University Grants Commission approved the proposed curriculum of the Bachelor of Biosystems Technology in Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurship. Ministry of Higher Education and Highways of Sri Lanka officially announced the establishment of the Faculty of Technology with two Departments viz: Department of Biosystems Technology, Department of Multidisciplinary Studies through the Gazette Extraordinary (No. 1948/59 Order under Section 27(1), THE UNIVERSITIES ACT, No. 16 of 1978) that was published on 18th January 2017.