Twinning project to enhance Sri Lankan veterinary education
massey-university
Fri Feb 26 2016 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Twinning project to enhance Sri Lankan veterinary education
Friday, 26 February 2016, 9:31 am
Press Release: Massey University
Twinning project to enhance Sri Lankan veterinary education
Sri Lankan agriculture looks set to be transformed by a scientific partnership under which Massey University is sharing veterinary knowledge with the University of Peradeniya.
The partnership, known as a twinning project, will be formally signed in the city of Kandy later today at an event attended by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which is helping fund the project, and a Massey University delegation led by College of Sciences Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Ray Geor.
Professor Geor says Massey University’s senior veterinary staff have a clear understanding of the vision of the University of Peradeniya Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, the current state of the faculty and what they need veterinarians to be able to do in the future to transform Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector for the better.
"The ultimate goal is to improve economic prosperity and reduce poverty in Sri Lanka, through improved animal and human health and productivity," Professor Geor says. "The partnership is part of Massey’s longstanding engagement and commitment to building strategic partnerships with Sri Lanka that are mutually beneficial. It is testament to Massey’s international standing and commitment to Sri Lanka.
"The next steps are to complete the writing of a new veterinary curriculum and, at the same time, encourage faculty members to take their expertise out to the rural livestock-owning community so they can also benefit from the new curriculum."
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As well as Mr Key, who is visiting Sri Lanka to promote the growing commercial and political ties between the nations, the signing of the agreement for services between Massey and Peradeniya was witnessed by Sri Lanka Central Province Governor Suranganie Ellawala and Peradeniya Vice-Chancellor Professor Upul Dissanayake and dean of its Veterinary Faculty Professor HBS Ariyaratne.
The Massey delegation included the dean of the veterinary programme Professor Tim Parkinson, Professor Danny Donaghy, international relations director Michael O’Shaughnessy, and twinning project manager Dr Lachlan McIntyre.
Dr McIntyre says there are several aspects to the project. “For Peradeniya it provides access to expertise in both curriculum development and specific subject areas and a pathway for training future lecturers through postgraduate study at Massey University. For Massey it’s an opportunity to take the best of what New Zealand has to offer, in terms of veterinary expertise, to the world. We open up a raft of new, collaborative research opportunities, not just in the veterinary sciences but also in veterinary education.”
Background
• The twinning model was introduced by the World Organisation for Animal Health in 2012 and aims to raise the standard of veterinary education around the world, particularly in developing and transition countries.
• The Massey University veterinary programme, offered since 1963, is the only one in New Zealand, and is ranked by world university ranking agency QS as 15th overall in the world for veterinary science and number one with employers.
• It is accredited by the Australasian Veterinary Board Council, the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. It was the first veterinary programme in the southern hemisphere to achieve all three. The degree is also recognised through reciprocity by the South African Veterinary Association.
ENDS
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