Advanced Technological Institute, Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා උසස් තාක්ෂණ අධ්‍යපන ආයතනය; Tamil: இலங்கை உயர் தொழில்நுட்ப நிறுவனம்) (also known as SLIATE) is a statutory body in Sri Lanka coming under the purview of the Higher Education Ministry and offering Higher National Diploma courses. At present, it manages and supervises eighteen provincial Advanced Technological Institutes throughout the island. The institute is traditionally known for its education in the accountancy and engineering.

As per the recommendations of the Committee appointed by Prof. Wiswa Waranapala, Deputy Minister of Higher Education in 1994, the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technical Education (SLIATE) was formed in 1995, under the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technical Education Act No. 29 of 1995. In 2001, the name of the institution was amended as Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE).

Campuses

Hardy Advanced Technological Institute

The Hardy Advanced Technological Institute is located in Ampara, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1956 by Prof. Allen Hardy as the Technical Training Institute with aid from the Colombo Plan, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Asia Foundation, it was renamed as Hardy Senior Technical Institute (HSTI) in 1967.

The 1951 Prof. Allen Hardy, arrived from Canada in Sri Lanka as the UN/FAP Advisor to the Department of Agriculture. He worked at the Maha Illuppalama Agricultural Centre and later was appointed to direct a training programme and to set up The TTI with "Honesty-Training-Industry" as its motto. Courses for the first batch of students commenced on 14 January 1956. The institute conducted two-years Diploma Courses in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Agriculture Engineering. The United Kingdom and Canada classified the TTI as a Regional Technical Training Institute (RTTI) for South East Asian Countries under the Colombo Plan.

From 15 January 1956 to the time of his death on 4 December 1963 (while serving TTI), Prof. Allen Hardy served in the TTI to educate people with no previous mechanical experience and to get them to assume responsibility. As a tribute him, TTI was renamed Hardy Technical Training Institute (HTTI) after his death.

In 1967, the institute was handed over to the Technical Education Unite of the Ministry of Education and subsequently, renamed the Hardy Senior Technical Institute (HSTI).

In 1976, the National Diploma in Technology (NDT) engineering second-year courses were transferred from HSTI to Katubedda which later became a separate unit under the University of Moratuwa. In 1980, all Diploma level engineering courses were transferred to the University of Moratuwa except NDT (Agriculture) and other trade courses.

In 1995, passed the parliamentary act No 29 "Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE)" was established under the Ministry of Higher Education. The NDT Agriculture course conducted by Hardy Technical College was absorbed to Hardy Advanced Technological Institute which was established under SLIATE. Under the administration of SLIATE new courses commenced at Hardy Advanced Technological Institute such as Higher National Diploma in Information Technology in 2007, Higher National Diploma in English (Fulltime) in 2007, Higher National Diploma in English (Part time) in 2008, Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (full time) in 2009, Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (Part time) in 2010 and Higher National Diploma in Management in 2011.

NVQ Level 6 Equivalence to HND Programmes of SLIATE

Tertiary & Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) has granted NVQ level 6 equivalence to the following HND programmes of SLIATE.

• HNDT – Agriculture
• HND in Electrical & Electronic Engineering
• HND in Civil Engineering
• HND in Mechanical Engineering
• HND in Food Technology
• HND in Information Technology

Director General of TVEC Mr. S. U. K. Rubasinghe & Director General of SLIATE Prof. K. T. M. U. Hemapala for the agreement to offer NVQ level 6 to the above SLIATE programmes. Ms. W. A. W. C. Premarathne, Director (NVQ) of TVEC and Dr. (Ms.) W. B. K. Bandara, Director (Planning & Research) of SLIATE also have participated for the meeting held at TVEC on 3 April 2019.

Courses

Advanced Technology Institute conducts 12 courses:

Higher National Diploma in Accountancy

The Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) program is the first professional accounting course introduced in Sri Lanka. It was started in 1943 as the National Diploma in Accountancy with the aim of detecting and preventing frauds, errors, and malpractices in Ceylon Tea Estates and Ceylon Railway. Then, it was converted to a Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) in 1946. The Ceylon Technical College at Maradana was set up by the colonial government in 1893, accounting education was not given a place in its programs for another fifty years. Only after 1942 did the Ceylon Technical College take steps to organize and offer certificate and diploma courses in accounting. Accordingly, a commercial certificate course for bookkeepers and a diploma course for prospective accountants were launched by the Technical College in 1943 and 1946 respectively. These courses were modelled on similar programs of studies offered in the U.K. Since the Diploma in Accountancy was a four-year evening course offered at the professional level the admission to the course was restricted to those who were engaged in accounting related activities. The curriculum of this course was quite similar to those of the leading professional accounting bodies in the U.K.

Higher National Diploma in Information Technology

The Higher National Diploma in Information Technology (HNDIT) program at the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) was developed and commenced in 2000 with the objective of producing the middle level IT professional required for the new millennium. The students who meet the requirements in the Entry Profile will be selected through a selection test followed by an interview.The curriculum includes web programming and software development. Building applications using C#,Java,PHP and Laravel and SQL is focused in the programme. HNDIT course also focuses on Networking and Quality Assurance practices. Bootcamps are held by graduate students from SLIATE on Full Stack Development focusing developing web applications using MERN stack and frameworks like Tailwind and bootstrap.

Higher National Diploma in Agriculture

Objective of HND-AGRI course is to produce middle-level managers, who are capable of practicing appropriate technology and management tasks in crop and animal production, agro product processing and agribusiness and contributing to the socioeconomic and sustainable development of the agriculture sector locally and internationally, with professional attitudes and confidence to serve the local and global community. The students who meet the requirements in the Entry Profile will be selected through a selection test followed by an interview.

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