Message From The Chairman

Dr. P.A.Kiriwandeniya

I am very glad to see the positioning of the SANASA movement in the Sri Lnkan economy today.

This  movement originated with the revitalization of the Thrift and Credit Co-operative Society of Walgama in the Kegalle District. It played a very vital role at the commencement of the Sanasa regeneration by organizing the National conference for Sanasa movement in February 1978. Nearly 1000 Sanasa societies formed the core of the movement in 1980 and steadily increased the numbers, and there are around 8500 SANASA societies in the country at present. The brand name SANASA that was so established expanded rapidly across the country. In the first two decades since its founding, several institutions which play diversified and important roles in the economy were set up with the development-oriented vision. Sanasa Campus (Sanasa University) is one of the institutions which were  established by the movement.

At that time Sanasa faced the challenges of  identifying qualified and skilled young people who are fully dedicated to development education. The members of the Sanasa Societies and their children faced a challenging environment to qualify for entrance to Government Universities. Although our children at village level are intelligent, capable, and  knowledgeable   they are unable to technically qualify and be competent  to meet the development needs of the country due various socio economic factors. We at Sanasa identified the needs of its members,the issues they encountered and   were determined to build up our own university as a way to provide higher education and development education for future generations.

In the initial stage, we were able to offer diploma courses in Banking, Insurance and Co-operatives, several certificate courses, in-house training programs and communities centered short-term educational programs. This institution was the nucleus of the present SANASA Campus, which was granted degree awarding status by the Ministry of Higher Education in accordance with the Gazette Extraordinary 1746/11 of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka dated 21stJanuary 2014.

At present, Sanasa Campus awards three special degrees in Banking & Finance, Insurance & Risk Management and Regional Science & Planning, which produce graduates with very sound knowledge and better understanding of the role they have to play in the development process of the county. We provide the  opportunity  for undergraduates of SANASA Campus to read for their degrees in an internationally recognized language and become capable and brilliant members of the society who would be seen as outstanding personalities in the socioeconomic strata. They can achieve their goals at a very reasonable and  affordable cost. And also they are blessed with a friendly environment which is unique to SANASA Campus.

We have a long way to go. Lots of rooms and opportunities to explore and venture into.I believe that our efforts will undoubtedly be successful and contribute to the development of the country at large.

Message from the Vice-Chancellor

Dr.R M K Ratnayake

As the vice-chancellor, I consider it a privilege to write this message and welcome all visitors to the Website of the SANASA campus.

SANASA Campus is a unique Non-State Higher Education Institute recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2014 under Universities Act No 17 of 1978, and located in a fifty-acre picturesque environment at Paragammana, Kegalle.

SANASA, the Sinhala acronym for Sri Lanka’s Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies, was founded by its leader and incumbent Chairman/Managing Director of the campus P.A. Kiriwandeniya with the expectation of creating a “new social order” in Sri Lanka on cooperative values and principles. While enrapturing by initially revamping the dormant thrift and credit cooperative societies in Sri Lanka, this movement has branched out beyond savings and credit to create other social endeavors that benefit many less fortunate rural families and local communities. SANASA Campus is one such initiative of his foresight.

SANASA Campus, with its inception, offers three unique degree programmes, namely a four-year honors BSc degree programme on Baking and Finance, Insurance and Risk Management and Regional Science and Planning at the undergraduate level. The World Regional Science Association has recognized the Regional Science and planning programme and is currently an active member of its Asian regional programme. Similarly participating in a competitive bidding process, SANASA Campus received a research grant from the Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development (AHEAD) that facilitated setting up a research cell and to develop research skills of the participating academics.

The teaching methodology at the SANASA Campus is unique, where hands-on training is encouraged during their undergraduate studies, classroom teaching plus practical learning with communities in the field is enabled. All undergraduates are exposed to regular English language training, computer application and data science. The medium of education at the SANASA campus is English.

We have developed an appreciable quality assurance programme initially for benchmarking and subsequently to monitor the progress continuously.  Annually, the Campus organizes academic conferences to disseminate knowledge through presentations and discussions. Papers are presented in research areas that the Campus has an admirable strength which covers (a) Regional Planning issues in Development, (b) Microfinance & Social Business for Inclusive Development and (c). Landslides and disaster prevention and forecasting.  Several Academic conferences have been organized during the past few years. In addition to the Bachelor of Science Degrees we offer Diploma, Higher Diploma and Certificate courses in many fields such as Human Resource Management, Management Skills Development, Microfinance, Early Childhood Development, Leadership Development and Change Management etc.

Much work remains to be done shortly to bring the SANASA Campus on par with other best-ranked Universities in Sri Lanka. I wish all the staff, students and well-wishers will contribute their best in achieving the desired goals of the SANASA Campus.