University of Kelaniya

The University of Kelaniya has been at the forefront of a number of significant advancements in higher education. It was one of the first universities to teach science in Sinhala, as well as one of the first to split the old Arts Faculty into three distinct Faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Commerce and Management.

It also boasts a number of unique departments not available elsewhere in Sri Lanka's university system, and several Kelaniya innovations have since been replicated by other institutions. In the Faculty of Science, there are departments of Industrial Management and Microbiology; in the Faculty of Humanities, there are departments of Linguistics, Fine Arts, Modern Languages, and Hindi; and in the Faculty of Social Sciences, there are departments of Mass Communication and Library and Information Sciences.

The University is a national center of distinction in Pali and Buddhist Studies, as well as allied subjects, in keeping with its historical roots. Pali and Buddhist Studies (with chairs in Buddhist Civilization and Buddhist Philosophy), Sanskrit, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sinhala, and Hindi, as well as the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, have long been established and well-developed. Kelaniya also has strong ties to Sri Lanka's Buddhist and Pali Universities (whose Vice-Chancellors have often been drawn from the University of Kelaniya Faculty).

As a result, the University of Kelaniya serves as the hub of an academic complex that focuses on new innovations in traditional fields. It also maintains a tight relationship with its parental institution, the Vidyalankara Pirivena, whose President also serves as the University's Chancellor.

Website: www.kln.ac.lk