Joint services academy in Colombo, Sri Lanka
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) (Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්යාලය General Sir John Kotelawala Arakshaka Vishva Vidyalaya) located at Kandawala, Ratmalana, Colombo, is state defense university of Sri Lanka which is administered by the Ministry of Defense.[2]
The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy was established in 1980 by the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy Act, No. 68 of 1981 as the joint defence service training institute of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services, Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force under go academic training together before they go on to respective service academy for further pre-commission training. It was named after General Sir John Kotelawala, third Prime Minister of Ceylon who donated his home for the academy. It was made a university by an amendment bill passed in Parliament on 11 October 2007 which lead to both military and civil students to be admitted.[1][3]
History
The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (the Defence University of Sri Lanka) was inaugurated on 11 October 1980 on a 48-acre (190,000 m2) estate donated by the late General Sir John Kotelawala, CH, KBE, LLD, a former Prime Minister of Ceylon. The KDU functions under the motto For The Motherland Forever, a dictum followed by General Sir John Kotelawala himself.[4]
The KDA was instituted with the objective of educating males and females to be commissioned officers in the armed forces of Sri Lanka.[5] 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.[6]
From 1980 to 1986, Service Officer Cadets temporarily studied engineering and physical science at the University of Colombo and University of Moratuwa, and they were awarded the degree by the same universities. In 1988, KDA was elevated to 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.[3]
An amendment bill was passed in Parliament on 18 March 2007 granting the status of a national university to the KDA.[7] On 11 October 2007 KDA was renamed as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.[8]
KDU opened its southern campus at Sooriyawewa, Sri Lanka on 5 May 2015.[9]
The opening of the University Hospital of General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University was held on 21 May 2017.[10] KDU become first university in Sri Lanka, running its own University Hospital with modern facilities.[10][11] The university hospital provide medical services to general public and service personnel free of charge.[10][12]
In 2018, parliament of Sri Lanka passed the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (Special Provisions) Act[13] to abolish medical faculty of South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine and to transfer the students to General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.[13][14] It is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.[15]
In June 2021, the State Minister of Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management presented the Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University Bill (Special Provisions),[16] proposing legislative changes to the governing structure of the KDU. Controversially, the proposed Bill placed KDU management under the Defence Ministry, with a senior officer of the armed services serving as the president or vice-chancellor, rather than under the Ministry of Higher Education, as is the norm. This bill has been challenged by several groups including scholars and university students that have claimed the move could lead to privatization and militarization of the higher education in Sri Lanka.[17][18][19][20] It has been claimed that the bill would allow the KDU to continue function independent of the University Grants Commission and it will excludes the KDU from the purview of the UGC per its funding Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy Act, No. 68 of 1981.[21][22] These groups further claim that any university that intends to offer civil education should not function without UGC control and quality assurance. For example, Article 15 2 (1) of the Bill explicitly specifies that the KDU is formed outside of the jurisdiction of the UGC Act No. 16 of 1978. As a result, unlike other state universities and higher education institutes in Sri Lanka that are governed by the UGC, KDU has the authority to regulate itself. In actuality, the KDU statute legalizes a full parallel military administration structure for civil higher education purposes with autonomy.[23]
Academic wing
The KDU is the only public university in Sri Lanka offering Bachelor of Science in Degrees in Marine Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering.[4]
The degree courses at the KDU run for two to five years. The officer cadets follow a course of study from the fields of medicine, law, engineering, management and technical sciences, commerce or arts. At the end of the second year, the officer cadets (other than the Engineering cadets and who stay to complete their third-year studies) are sent to their military academies (Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa; Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee; Air Force Academy, SLAF China Bay).[4]
Since 2010 the university was opened for non-military students under a payment scheme. These students are allowed to enjoy the academic and other facilities that were available for cadets before. The have to wear a uniform when in attendance. Scholarships are awarded for children from Ranaviru (Veternat) families and police.[3]
Academic work is conducted under the direction of the Board of Studies and Board of Management by the Director of Academic Studies. There are eight academic departments. Each department consist of a Head of the department, internal/visiting staff, and the library.[3]
Accredited institutions
Following institutions have been accredited to the KDU to conduct academic programs;
Commandants and vice chancellors
KDA was renamed as KDU in year 2007 and until such time chief executive officer was the Commandant. However, in 2007 after renaming as Kotelawala Defence University, Vice Chancellor is the Chief Executive of the university.
List of commandants and vice chancellors are as follows:
