The Sri Lankan Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha and his wife recently visited CQU Sydney International Campus.

The VIPs were on a stop-over on the way to Melbourne after attending an educational conference in Brisbane.

Though the Minster had only a few hours in Sydney, he took time out from his busy schedule to visit CQU SIC and speak with academic and administrative staff.

The Campus Director, Ms Barbara Abou-Lehaf, welcomed the Minster and his wife, who remarked that they were very impressed with the facilities and atmosphere at the campus.

One of the campus' Sri Lankan students spotted the Minister and took the opportunity to talk to him about studying in Australia. The student was heard to say that there were not many Sri Lankan students at CQU, but he hoped that in the future they would be better represented.

As the Minister’s career has moved from banking to law to politics he was particularly interested in CQU’s accountancy courses.

A close friend of the visitor said that the Minister is well known in Sri Lanka as an advocate for broadening the education system.

This is seen as necessary to meet the needs of a new generation of globally completive Sri Lankan students.

The Minster himself finished his Master’s Degree while working full-time and is a passionate believer in life-long education. He said that he had a terrific, relaxing time in Sydney and hopes that he will be able to return with more time to have a better look around.

Photo: Campus director Barbara Abou-Lehaf with Sri Lankan Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha (second from left). Also pictured is Dr Shantha Yahanpath who is a casual academic and also went to school with the Minister. On the far right is Dr Rohan de Silva, a full-time academic.