Harsha Wijesekera is a dedicated academic with over three decades of diverse teaching experience across primary, secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels in public, semi-government, military, and private institutions.

Currently, she is the Head of the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology

Before taking the position at SLIIT, Harsha was

• a Senior Lecturer and Higher Degree Research Coordinator at the Postgraduate Institute of English, Open University of Sri Lanka [From May 2013 to March 2024]
• a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University [From 1 March 2023 to 1 March 2024] engaging with the School of Literature, Language and Linguistics
• a Senior Lecturer at Sir John Kotelawala Defence University [From Dec 2010 to May 2013]

Additionally, she was involved as

• Visiting Faculty at the National Institute of Business Management
• Edexcel Teacher Trainer
• English and English Literature teacher at various schools including Royal    College Colombo and D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo

Harsha is dedicated to facilitating transformative learning. Her research interests encompass the medium of instruction, sociology of education, language and ethnicity, social cohesion, applied linguistics/sociolinguistics, curriculum development, and continuing professional development. Her most outstanding contribution to Sri Lanka is conceptualization, desing and implementation of the first-ever Postgraduate Diploma in Bilingual (English Medium Instruction) in Eduation. Recognizing the value of this postgraduate qualification, the Ministry of Education sponsor 50 tuition scholarships for teachers and teacher educators to enrol in this program at the Postgraduate Institute of English, Sri Lanka. 

• PhD. / Faculty of Education / Queensland University of Technology, Australia [Received the Outstanding Thesis Award]
• Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language [TESL] / Postgraduate Institute of English
• Post Graduate Diploma in Education (TESL) / University of Colombo, Sri Lanka (Awarded for High Standard of Excellence)
• Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations (Merit) / Bandaranaike Center for International Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English and English Language Teaching (Second Upper) / Open University of Sri Lanka
• Critical Thinking in Language Learning and Teaching / University of Oregon, USA
• Certificate in Senior Teachers in Higher Education / Center for Staff Development, OUSL
• Online Course Design & Development / Open University of Sri Lanka
• Professional In-Service Teacher Training

• Outstanding PhD Thesis Award 2019 for highly commended thesis / Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
• The Ernest Perera Memorial Award for the achievement of High Standard of Excellence 2009/ Faculty of Education of the University of Colombo
• Visiting Fellow, Australian National University
• National Educator Award - Gold Award 2023 for the field of Language and Literature

• A comparative study on Teacher beliefs, ideologies and practices: L1 in the Bilingual education classrooms in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Co-researcher Dr Naashia Mohomed, School of Curriculum & Pedagogy, University of Auckland.

• Medium of Instruction vs. Low Performances among undergraduates

• Needs Analysis of undergrduates [English Language]