Advanced Technology Institute to open in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2003, 17:18 GMT]
International Tamil Technical Professionals’ Organization (ITTPO), based in the Silicon Valley region of California, and founded in September 2002 funded by members of the Sri Lankan Tamil Expatriate community, said today in a press release that the opening ceremony for its planned Advanced Technological Institute in kilinochchi will be held Monday.

The full text of the press release follows:

ITTPO INAUGURATES VANNITECH, AN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE IN NORTHEAST SRI LANKA

San Jose, CA, USA. – June 23, 2003 – International Tamil Technical Professionals’ Organization (ITTPO), a non-profit charitable organization based in San Jose, California, today announced the inauguration of an Advanced Technological Institute, Vanni Institute of Technology (VanniTech), in Killinochchi, Sri Lanka. Goals of the institute are three fold: introduction and advancement of high-tech education in Northeast Sri Lanka, establishment of a technological research and development center for high-tech innovations, and the creation of a technically competent workforce for future enterprises.

Due to the civil war that has raged over the better part of the last two decades, the people who live in the Northeast of Sri Lanka are deprived of basic necessities, including food, clothes, shelter, and medicine. Though it is considered secondary to the problems mentioned above, another of the deprived essentials is a quality education. A quality education is the cornerstone of a stable foundation for any society. People of Northeast Sri Lanka have been deprived of this foundation, and it is this need that the institute will address.

While many non-Western countries have seen enormous advancement in information technology and related advanced technical fields, Northeast Sri Lanka has not. ITTPO is confident that by establishing this institute, it can bring the people of Northeast Sri Lanka on to equal footing with the rest of the world in terms of technical knowledge, and eventually bring high-tech businesses and employment opportunities to the region.

VanniTech will help the people of the region help themselves by acquiring knowledge in the fields of computer hardware, software, network management, and web/database development technologies. Though VanniTech begins with these 4 areas of focus , with a measured success, over time more disciplines would be added to the programs of study. The first student class at VanniTech would consist of 60 students. Each would have been admitted to the institute only after completing a thorough screening process, including stringent entry criteria, scholastic aptitude tests, and one-on-one interviews.

The ITTPO hopes that the opening of VanniTech will go a long way in helping the people of the Northeast Sri Lanka reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams of prosperity and accomplishment.

Additional information about ITTPO can be found at www.ittpo.org and www.vanni.org.