General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

Infobox_University


name = General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
motto = සිය රටටමයි කවදත්
(“For The Motherland Forever”)
established = 11 October 1980
type = Military Academy/University/State University
branch =Military of Sri Lanka
command_structure=Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)
nickname = KDA/KDU
chancellor = General Deshamanya Denis Perera VSV, ndc, psc, SLE
head_label = Commandant
head = Major General S.R. Balasuriya M.Sc., USP, ndc, psc, IG SLA
principal =
city = Ratmalana, Colombo
state =
country =
Sri Lanka
undergrad = 300
postgrad = 50
staff =
campus = Kandawala
free_label =
free =
affiliations = Association of Commonwealth Universities
tagline =
website = [http://www.kdu.lk/ www.kdu.lk]
footnotes=

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) located at Kandawala, Ratmalana, Colombo, is a joint services academy where cadets of the three wings Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force are trained together before they go for their pre-commission training to their respective academies. Formerly The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy, it was renamed as a university by an amendment bill passed in Parliament on October 11 2007. It was established in 1980 and is named after General Sir John Kotelawala, 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon.

History

The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy, the Defence University of Sri Lanka was inaugurated on the 11 October 1980 on a 48 acre estate donated by the late General Sir John Kotelawala CH KBE LLD, a former Prime Minister of Ceylon. The KDA functions under the motto “For The Motherland Forever”, a dictum devotedly respected and followed by General Sir John Kotelawala himself.

The KDA was instituted with the main objective of imparting academic knowledge in a military back ground to young ladies and gentlemen suitable to be commissioned officers in the armed forces in Sri Lanka. It has been legally established under the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy Act No. 68 of 1981 and is governed by a Board of Management consisting of the Secretary of the Defence as the Chairman, Commanders of the tri-services, representatives of the University Grant Commission and the General Treasury, and the Commandant of the academy as members.

From 1980 to 1986, a temporary arrangement was made for Service Officer Cadets follow courses in engineering and physical science at the University of Colombo and University of Moratuwa, and they were awarded the degree by the same universities. Later, KDA elevated to the university status subsequent to proposal made to the then government headed by the President J.R. Jayewardene, thus enabling KDA to offer degrees in Defence Studies. Today, the KDU is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, United Kingdom.

A amendment bill was passed in Parliament on the 18 March 2007 granting the status of a state university to the KDA. [ [http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/09/19/news/08.asp KDA becomes University, Bill passed in Parliament] ] On October 11 2007 KDA was renamed as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. [ [http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/10/12/news25.asp President inaugurates General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University] ]

Academic Wing

The degree courses at the KDU run for two to three years in duration. The officer Cadets have to follow a course of study from the fields of Engineering, Management and Technical Sciences, Commerce or Arts. At the end of the second year, the Officer Cadets other than the Engineering Cadets who stay back to complete their third year studies, are sent to their respective military academies (Sri Lanka Military Academy-Diyatalawa; Naval and Maritime Academy- Trincomalee; Air Force Academy- SLAF China Bay).

An academic work is conducted under the direction of the Board of Studies & Board of Management by the Director of Academic Studies. There are eight (8) Academic departments each of department consist of a Head of the Department & internal/visiting staff and the Library.

Departments

*Dept. of Humanities
*Dept. of Social Science
*Dept. of Languages
*Dept. of Marine & Mechanical Engineering
*Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
*Dept. of Math's, Science & Computer Science
*Dept. of Civil Engineering
*Dept. of Aeronautical Engineering

Degrees Offered by the KDU

KDU offers Bachelor and Master level Degrees in following fields;
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) Mechanical Engineering
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) Marine Engineering
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) Electrical & Electronic Engineering
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) Civil Engineering
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) Aeronautical Engineering
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) in Management and Technical Science
*Bachelor of Science (Defence Studies) in Management
*Bachelor of Arts (Defence Studies)
*Bachelor of Commerce (Defence Studies)
*Master of Science (Defence Studies) in Management
*Master of Science in Information Technology

See also

*John Kotelawala
*Sri Lanka Military Academy
*Naval and Maritime Academy
*Air Force Academy
*Military of Sri Lanka
*Sri Lanka Army
*Military Academy
*Education in Sri Lanka
*Sri Lankan universities

References

External links

* [http://www.kda.lk/ Official website]
* [http://www.defence.lk/ Official website of the Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka]
* [http://www.army.lk/ Official Army website]
* [http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/09/03/fea05.html Memorials to a brave, old world by Rashomi Silva]
* [http://www.nationalsecurity.lk/fullnews.php?id=9485 Life at Sri Lanka’s top Defence University, nationalsecurity.lk]