IRQUE Objectives

University education in Sri Lanka is offered by 12 conventional public universities with the enrollment of 40,000 students and an Open University having an enrollment of 20,000 students. This represents a participation rate in university education of less than 3% of the age cohort and stands in sharp contrast to the higher rates in other South East Asian countries. Furthermore, the quality and relevance of many courses has led to high graduate unemployment with up to 40% of recent graduates being unemployed (as of 2003).

The Government of Sri Lanka has made tertiary education reform a priority in order to respond to concerns that students do not graduate with the competencies required for Sri Lanka’s economic and social development.

Therefore, the Government of Sri Lanka through the Ministry of Education  with assistance from the World Bank has launched project titled “ Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education” (IRQUE).

Long Term Objective of the Ministry and University Grants Commission (UGC)

Short Term Objectives of the IRQUE Project

Nature of Competition 01

Nature of Competition 02

Nature of Competition 03

Nature of Competition 04 

Main Performance Indicators

Overview of Competitive Funding Process

Six step Selection Process