BIT ( University of Colombo)

Taking into consideration the job opportunities that exist for ICT graduates in Sri Lanka & overseas, the UCSC took the initiative to launch the three-year External Degree programme leading towards the award of Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology (External) in the year 2000. This degree programme has been redesigned according to ACM guidelines and Policy Framework for External and Extension programme introduced by the University Grants Commission in the year 2010.

The UCSC has advanced training resources and experience in Sri Lanka in the field of ICT education, and UCSC is the first to offer an External Degree in IT in Sri Lanka. The BIT syllabi are reviewed and updated regularly by considering the international standards such as ACM guidelines, and local and global demand of the IT industry. The BIT degree is awarded by the University of Colombo.

UCSC provides a well-defined detailed syllabus that would help to lay a solid foundation on which, a student can build his career in IT. The syllabi will be constantly updated to meet the industry requirements. Model and past question papers, a list of recommended textbooks are made available to the students. In the year 2003, e-learning was introduced to the BIT students through a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). VLE assists the students in learning through self-evaluating quizzes, learning material and activities.

Currently, more than 50 training institutes spread over the country offer training programmes for the BIT degree. Among them, 21 training institutes have registered with the UCSC in the year 2021. The College of ICT is one of the registered teaching institute with UCSC from 2018 to up to date. The list of the BIT registered teaching institutes are presented in the section 9 on student handbook and also published in the BIT website (http://bit.lk/index.php/learning/traininginstitutes/).

BIT Programme is designed to:

• produce qualified IT professionals through external mode in addition to the traditional University output
• set professional standards and encourage students to obtain skills in commercial IT applications and in the usage of necessary tools
• enable those who could not enter into a state university to read for a degree in IT due to severe competition in obtaining such a degree from a state university.
• provide an opportunity to those non-graduates already working in the IT sector to obtain a formal qualification through self-study

The minimum duration of the BIT degree programme will be 3 academic years.

• A Diploma in Information Technology (DIT) will be awarded to a candidate who has obtained a “PASS” for all the Non-GPA courses, a minimum of a “C” grade for each GPA course, and passed all online assignments in Level I.
• A Higher Diploma in Information Technology (HDIT) will be awarded to a candidate who has obtained a “PASS” for all the Non-GPA courses, a minimum of a “C” grade for each GPA course, passed all online assignments in the Level II, and has obtained the Diploma in Information Technology (DIT)
• BIT Degree Certificate will be awarded on successful completion of Level I, Level II and Level III examinations and fulfilment of other requirements.

For more information please visit www.bit.lk

The e-BIT programme of the UCSC won a Certificate of Commendation in the Education Planner and Administrator Category of the UNESCO ICT in Education Innovation Awards 2007-2008 and awards at NBQSA and e-Swabhimani. 

The UCSC was chosen for this award owing to its innovative use of ICT to scale the output of ICT Professionals much needed by the industry. The e-BIT was designed to optimize the use of ICT for communication, registration, delivery of the curricular content, and examination through its website and associated Virtual Learning Environment. Today, it has become the student portal through which one can learn online, seek assistance from facilitators, and communicate with peers in addition to obtaining examination support material and retrieving results. For this reason, the BIT programme has become the premier ‘open’ and affordable IT degree programme in Sri Lanka. The success of the e-BIT can be attributed to the efforts of the e-Learning Centre of the UCSC through its Research and Development (R&D) activities. The curriculum was completely revamped taking into account a new online pedagogy based on a user-centric but collaborative learning model and the constructive alignment paradigm of learning. R&D work in setting up an appropriate Virtual Learning Environment resulted in the adoption and adaptation of the open-source Moodle framework which was customized and localized to form Vidupiyasa – UCSC’s “Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for BIT students”. SCORM compatible online learning lessons have been developed based on the redesigned curriculum and made available through the VLE. Additional information regarding the registrations and examinations are made available through the BIT website. An e-assessment system for formative as well as some summative testing has also been developed and deployed.

The 21st Century would be dominated by ICT and there is a growing need for IT professionals and they are sought-after more than ever before, due to the fast-paced world of computer technology and the increasing dominance of IT skills. This, together with the critical shortage of IT professionals today, translates into opportunities for those who are in IT as well as those who are interested in entering the field. Software Development & ICT Services is one sector where Sri Lanka can do well and have highly satisfactory economic returns, which in turn will benefit the national economy. In this context, we need to heighten public awareness on the potential of IT and increase educational opportunities in the sphere.

Considering the above, from the very beginning, the BIT degree programme was designed and developed to cater to the rising demands of the IT industry. Thus, the courses were developed considering the knowledge and skills required to produce high quality IT professionals. As a result, during the last 20 years, the BIT degree programme has been able to maintain its employability rate which is around 90%. According to the latest statistics obtained from the BIT graduates in the year 2020, the employability rate is above 87%. Out of that, 78% are employed on a permanent basis. BIT graduates get an opportunity to work in different sectors such as industry and academia where 61% are employed in the private sector, and 22% are employed in the public sector. 5% of graduates have even obtained foreign employment opportunities. It shows that the BIT degree programme is capable of catering to the demands of the industry as the majority of the BIT graduates are employed as Software Engineers, Data Analysts, QA/Test Engineers, UX Engineers, Web Developers, Business Analyst, Network Administrators, Information Security Analyst, Project Managers, ICT/IT Lecturers, etc. which are among the most sought out and high-demand areas. Also, a significant number of graduates who have followed the BIT degree programme was able to enter into postgraduate programmes in local as well as foreign universities because of the strength of the curriculum and some of them have even completed doctoral studies as well.