General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
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| Motto | සිය රටටමයි කවදත් (“For The Motherland Forever”) |
|---|---|
| Type | Military Academy/State University |
| Established | 11 October 1980 |
| Chancellor | General Rohan Daluwatte VSV, ndc, psc, SLE |
| Vice-Chancellor | Major General Milinda Peiris RWP, RSP, psc Major General Jeewaka Ruwan Kulatunga RSP, ndc, psc |
| Undergraduates | 300 |
| Postgraduates | 50 |
| Location |
Ratmalana, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Campus | Kandawala |
| Nickname | KDA/KDU |
| Affiliations | Association of Commonwealth Universities |
| Website | www.kdu.ac.lk |
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) located at Kandawala, Ratmalana, Colombo, is a joint services academy where cadets of the three wings Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force are trained before they go for their pre-commission training to their academies. Established in 1980 as the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy, named after General Sir John Kotelawala, 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon; it was renamed as a university by an amendment bill passed in Parliament on 11 October 2007.
The General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (the Defence University of Sri Lanka) was inaugurated on 11 October 1980 on a 48-acre (190,000 m2) estate donated by the late General Sir John Kotelawala, CH, KBE, LLD, a former Prime Minister of Ceylon. The KDA functions under the motto For The Motherland Forever, a dictum followed by General Sir John Kotelawala himself.
The KDA was instituted with the objective of educating males and females to be commissioned officers in the armed forces of Sri Lanka. It has been legally established under the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy Act No. 68 of 1981 and is governed by a Board of Management consisting of the Secretary of the Defence as the chairman, Commanders of the tri-services, representatives of the University Grant Commission and the General Treasury, and the Commandant of the academy as members.
From 1980 to 1986, a temporary arrangement was made for Service Officer Cadets follow courses in engineering and physical science at the University of Colombo and University of Moratuwa, and they were awarded the degree by the same universities. Later, KDA was elevated to university status subsequent to proposal made to the then government headed by the President J.R. Jayewardene, thus enabling KDA to offer degrees in Defence Studies. Today, the KDU is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, United Kingdom.
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