President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa paid a special visit to BCI Campus, Negombo (Benedict XVI Catholic Institute) on January15 on the invitation of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo.
The event was conducted under strict health protocols and was attended by a limited audience among which were the Archbishop of Colombo; Rector of BCI, Rev. Fr. Quintus Fernando; Professor G. L. Peiris, Minister of Education; Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Tourism; Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, State Minister – Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal, and Public Sanitation; Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control; Nimal Lanza, State Minister, Rural Roads and other Infrastructure Development; Chief Air Marshal, Roshan Gunatileke; Governor of the Western Province, Prof. Kapila Perera; Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Prof Sampath Amaratunga; Chairman of the University Grants Commission, Prof. Sudantha Liyanage; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri; Chairman/Director – Board of Management, Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) and member of BCI Academic Council along with several other dignitaries.
Welcoming the gathering Rev. Father Quintus Fernando – Rector of BCI, said, “BCI Campus was established 6 years ago with a holistic and unique approach to higher education. Our emphasis is not limited to developing graduates that are industry ready, armed with knowledge and skill, but we aspire to make BCI Campus a breeding ground for well-disciplined, humanely nurtured, and responsible citizens. We ‘Aspire to Inspire’ our students to become professionals who possess academic knowledge and skill sets, whilst also mentoring them to assert their dignity and integrity as true human beings”.
The reverend father also drew special attention to the invaluable support President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has rendered to BCI, over the years. Special mention was made to President is involvement in expediting the reconstruction and renovation work of BCI in 2015 as the campus prepared to welcome Pope Francis who visited BCI during his visit to Sri Lanka.
Speaking at the event, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who drew attention to the innumerable efforts of the Catholic Church to provide a sound Education to children and youth the world over, stated, “Education today is not just a matter of mastering science and technology only, but also, and much more, a matter of assisting a young person to master life itself. So, Institutes of higher learning should not be so much profit making as much as academies of moral and spiritual formation for the youth”.
