Department of Economics

Welcome to the Department of Economics

The Department of Economics is one of the recently established and most possibly the most popular departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities with nearly 400 undergraduates. The Department offers two bachelor’s degree programs – BA (General) Degree and BA (Special) Degree – in Economics. These two-degree programs have been offered by the Department of Social Sciences since 1996, and thus those are among the first degree programs offered by the Faculty. At present, over 200 undergraduates each year choose both bachelor’s degrees in Economics. The Department provides students an opportunity to specialize in several branches of Economics such as Agriculture and Environmental Economics, Industrial Economics, Development Economics, Demographics and Labor Economics, International Economics, Statistics, Business Economics, etc… During a short time, the department has developed its academic, research, physical, and infrastructural facilities to well match with the world standards. The Department has already designed two Postgraduate Degree Programs in Economics and Development Studies. At present department has 9 permanent academic staff, of them 5 holds Ph.D. level qualifications. With highly qualified academic staff, the department also aims to contribute to the national development of the country by generating new knowledge and contributing to public policy discussions in Sri Lanka.

History

The Department of Economics of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka was established as a separate department in 2020. Before the department was established, Bachelor of Arts Honors in Economics and students who take Economics as one of the three subjects in a General Arts Degree were offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (since 1996). Approximately 100 students undertake Economics as a subject under General Arts Degree program while around 30 students are enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts Honors in Economics each year. At present department has 9 permanent academic staff, of them 5 holds Ph.D. level qualifications. During a short time, the department has developed its academic, research, physical, and infrastructural facilities to well match with the world standards.

The Department has already designed two Postgraduate Degree Programs in Economics and Development Studies. With highly qualified academic staff, the department also aims to contribute to the national development of the country by generating new knowledge and contributing to public policy discussions in Sri Lanka.

Recently, the Department revised the curriculum of its degree programs – BA Degree Program and BA (Hons) Degree Program in Economics – to meet society’s demand for a 21st-century workforce. The Department recently recognized the value of the revision of its curriculum which is highly significant to better respond to the social, economic, environmental, and political transitions, where the societal needs are considered as the foremost element of consideration in this process. Thus, enrichment of the curriculums was done by taking into account the needs of the local job market, SLQF guidelines, International benchmarking, the model of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and Students Centered Learning (SCL), and with the consultation of prominent academics in the field of economics.

Vision

The vision of the Department is to be a Centre of excellence in higher education, research, and dissemination of Knowledge in the field of economics.

Mission

The Mission is to produce self-reliance graduates, who can critically think and make independent analysis in issues of regional and national economies of the country, and generate new knowledge in the field of economics as well as disseminate it to a wider audience.