SLIIT Conference and Symposium Proceedings
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All SLIIT faculties annually conduct international conferences and symposiums. Publications from these events are included in this collection.
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Publication Open Access Designing an Economic Scenario Generator for Financial Risk Management of Low-Income Households in Sri Lanka: A Review(Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Peiris, K. G. H. S.; Premarathna, L. P. N. DLow-income households in Sri Lanka face increasing financial vulnerabilities driven by unstable income, high dependence on essential goods, and exposure to inflation and external shocks. Economic Scenario Generators (ESGs), widely used in institutional risk management, offer a structured way to model uncertainty but have rarely been adapted for household-level applications. This review synthesizes literature on ESG methodologies, household financial risk in developing economies, and Sri Lanka’s socio-economic realities. It highlights the need for a household-oriented ESG framework that integrates macroeconomic shocks with micro-level financial behavior to support budgeting, debt avoidance, and policy interventions.Publication Open Access Predictive Model for Monthly Made Tea Production in Sri Lanka(Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Subasinghe, C; Wattegedara, N; Silva, T; Balasooriya, S; Dassanayake, K; Guruge, M.LThis study forecasts monthly tea production in Sri Lanka by developing a suitable time series model to identify future trends in the national tea industry. The analysis is based on monthly made tea production data from January 2000 to June 2025, obtained from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Tea Board. After confirming the non-stationarity of the original series through the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, both first-order and seasonal differencing were applied to achieve stationarity. The Autocorrelation Function (ACF) and Partial Autocorrelation Function (PACF) plotswere used to identify potential model structures.Publication Open Access Food Habits Changes and their Impact on Young Adults During COVID-19 Lockdown in Sri Lanka(School of Nursing, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Chamodini, H. W. T.; Mihirani, N. H. G. M.; Sandamali, P. G. S.; Dilrukshi, A. N.; Perera, A. C. H.; Sewwandi, K. P. A.Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in many aspects of life. Nutrition is one important aspect that has been impacted both positively and negatively. Pandemic mitigation strategies restricted the movement of people, disrupting food production, distribution, and accessibility. On the other hand, the quantity and the quality of nutrition were also altered considerably. Young adults are vulnerable to multiple changes, including nutrition. It has been a timely requirement to study these changes during challenging situations, and the findings can be utilized to introduce nutritional guidelines during pandemic periods and nutritional recovery guidelines during post -pandemic periods. The study explores alterations in dietary habits and lifestyle patterns among Sri Lankan young adults during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Utilizing a descriptive cross-sectional design, data were collected from 118 participants aged 18-30 through an online questionnaire. The study revealed decreased consumption of vegetables, fruits, and chocolates, accompanied by higher levels of water intake and more frequent dinners. Physical activity levels declined significantly, while body weight and sleep duration increased. The research highlights the lockdown's multifaceted impact on young adults' health, emphasizing the need fortargeted nutritional and physical activity guidelines during such crises and even during post -pandemic periods.Publication Open Access Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Academic Integrity in Higher Education, Sri Lanka(School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Wijayasiri, K. D.S.NThe blistering pace of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the college and university sector has, in effect, revolutionized the academic sector, offering high potential while simultaneously encompassing numerous obstacles regarding academic integrity. This study examines the various ways in which artificial intelligence has impacted academic integrity in higher education institutions in Sri Lanka. Investigating the ever-developing field of AI through the prism of professional literature, this research addresses the issue of how the use of AI tools, mainly large language models, such as ChatGPT, is reinventing the familiar pattern of assessments, establishing new patterns of academic dishonesty, and causing the emergence of new solutions to the problem of preservingacademic integrity. The results indicate that although current AI-based technologies provide significant value to personalized learning and educational improvement, they also present significant risks to academic integrity,which must be addressed promptly by educators, policymakers, and institutional officials. The following paper proposes an approach to addressing these issues by redesigning policies, course and examination evaluation, and incorporating ethical AI strategies tailored to the specific context of Sri Lankan higher education.Publication Open Access The Effect of Emotional Well-being on Polite Behavior and Teaching Effectiveness of English Teachers in Government Schools of Badulla District in Sri Lanka(School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Gunawardana, K.P.; Priyanath, H.M.S.Many empirical studies agree that emotional well-being plays a critical role in influencing individual behavior, and the impact can directly affect work efficacy. However, the correlation between emotional well-being, behavior, and effectiveness has not been previously explored. Similarly, teachers’ emotional well-being can also influence their behavior, leading to varying levels of teaching effectiveness. This study attempted to examine empirically how emotional well-being affects polite behavior and teaching effectiveness among English teachers in government schools of the Badulla District in Sri Lanka. Primary data collection was conducted using a quantitative method, involving a structured questionnaire administered to 297 randomly selected government English teachers. The study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyze data. The results revealed that emotional well-being has a significant effect on polite behavior, which in turn has a substantial influence onteaching effectiveness. Supported by empirical evidence, this study concluded that the emotional well-being of English teachers directly influences polite behavior and teaching effectiveness. Furthermore, polite behavior plays a partial mediating role, implying that emotional well-being improves teaching effectiveness by fostering polite behavior. The findings of this study provide important insights for policymakers to enhance teachers' emotional well-being to improve the teaching effectiveness of English teachers by focusing on their polite behavior.Publication Open Access Is epilepsy solely a medical condition? A Review of “Fit Thamai” (2019), a Sri Lankan Autobiographical Short Film Representing Epilepsy(Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Dissanayake, A.KThis study explores the representation of epilepsy in Channa Bawantha’s autobiographical Sri Lankan short film titled Fit Thamai: Channa’s Untold True Story (2019). Employing content analysis and a discussion of the medical, personal tragedy and social models of disability, the study highlights the importance of well-roundedrepresentations of epilepsy in the attempt to challenge misinformation and stigma that surrounds epilepsy. The strengths identified in this short film are both its autobiographical narration and its emphasis on the importance of people with epilepsy sharing their epilepsy experiences with each other, as this creates friendship and camaraderie among people with epilepsy. Also, the short film shows different reactions to epilepsy as well as different treatment approaches towards epilepsy in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, it creatively contributes a uniquely Sri Lankan meaning to the word ‘fit’ (a word used interchangeably with seizures) alongside the range of other meanings conveyed via this word. However, the short film also posits people with epilepsy as ‘sick’ persons, or as patients, and equates epilepsy to a personal tragedy. It also treats epilepsy as exclusively medical in nature and ignores the socio-cultural factors in Sri Lanka which lead to the stigmatisation and misinformation surrounding epilepsy. Furthermore, the short film seems to unwittingly generalise Bawantha’s experience with epilepsy treatment as well as his symptoms to the wider population of Sri Lankanswith epilepsy. Therefore, this paper emphasises the need for representations of epilepsy in Sri Lanka which are backed by more in-depth understanding, reflection and analysis of epilepsy lived experiences.Publication Open Access Challenges and Coping Strategies of Sri Lankan Undergraduates in Non-English- Speaking Countries: A Qualitative Exploration Using Schlossberg’s Transition Theory(School of Psychology. Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Fahumudeen, H; Goonetilleke, NInternational students pursuing higher education in foreign countries are vulnerable to numerous challenges diminishing their experience. Presently, research is dominated by the perspectives of Western students and English-speaking countries; neglecting the perspectives of international students in non-English speaking countries. Through Schlossberg’s transition theory, this qualitative study explored the perspectives of South Asian, specifically Sri Lankan, students in the challenges faced and the coping strategies used – to ultimately develop recommendations improving student experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on eight undergraduates consisting of six women and two men studying in non-English-speaking countries varying from Eastern Europe to Middle Eastern nations. During Thematic Analysis three themes emerged: the role of host country language, discrimination experienced, and how challenges were navigated. Role of language emerged as a significant theme that influenced students’ daily experiences and quality of support provided. Additionally, Sri Lankan students demonstrated agency by developing and maintaining strong socialsupport systems. However, institutions must ensure that international students are provided adequate resources to navigate the challenges they face and encourage intercultural interactions.Publication Open Access Red Flags at Work: A Qualitative Study on Gen Z’s Workplace Turn-Offs(School of Psychology. Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Gunathilake, S; Ganeshan, AAs Generation Z enters the workforce, their expectations regarding authenticity, equality and psychological safety are shaping new benchmarks for organisational culture. While global literature has begun to explore these shifts, there are limited empirical evidence on what constitutes workplace "red flags" for Gen Z in South Asia, particularly Sri Lanka. This study investigated the organisational behaviours and environments perceived as red flags by Sri Lankan Gen Z employees. An inductive qualitative approach was adopted, analysing approximately 69 anonymised responses from three Reddit threads posted in 2022, 2024 and 2025. Thematic analysis revealed six core themes: performative culture and corporate hypocrisy; lack of psychological safety and respect; exploitation and burnout norms; unfair HR practices and compensation systems; favouritism, discrimination, and lack of inclusion and organisational dishonesty. Differences were observed across sectors, with IT professionals emphasising overwork, rigid processes, and stagnant roles, while non-IT participants raised concerns about ethical breaches, gender-based microaggressions and superficial wellness initiatives. These themes were consistently evident across all three posts suggesting deeply held generational expectations. The study concludes that for Gen Z in Sri Lanka, alignment between stated organisational values and actual practices is essential.Publication Open Access A Qualitative Exploration of Pet Ownership and its Perceived Impact on Mental Health and Cultural Perspectives among Young Adults in Sri Lanka(School of Psychology. Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Rodrigo, R. J; Goonethilleke, NPets have the capacity to offer unconditional love and support through companionship, positively influencing emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. Guided by the Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) framework, this qualitative study explored the views on pet ownership and mental health among young adults in Sri Lanka. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven pet owners aged 20 to 22. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Four key themes emerged: (1) Psychological impact and emotional support, (2) Responsibility and daily structure, (3) Cultural and societal contexts, and (4) Fostering social connections. The findings highlight the meaningful contributions of pet ownership to reduced stress and anxiety, increased empathy, improved emotional regulation, and a sense of routine and responsibility, with cultural and familial factors shaping experiences. Pets occasionally served as social facilitators. Overall, findings suggest that pet ownership may offer valuable support for young adults’ mental health and wellbeing in the Sri Lankan context.Publication Open Access Status of Residential Treatment Centres Offering Addiction Counselling for Persons Living with Alcohol Use Disorders in Sri Lanka(School of Psychology. Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2025-10-10) Rajasuriya, M; Tharinda, C; Wickramarathna, A. D. C. L.Residential treatment centres are well known to provide services for persons living with alcohol use disorders (AUD). The interventions of their treatment packages are not always evidence-based. There have been no efforts to test the effectiveness of such addiction counselling packages offered in Sri Lanka. Paving the way to such efforts, this study aimed to describe the treatment packages offered by addiction counselling-based residential AUD treatment centres in Sri Lanka. The list of existing treatment centres was compiled using information from the National Dangerous Drug Control Board (NDDCB), web search, and word of mouth. An authorised person from each centre was interviewed using a structured interview. Addiction counselling centres in Sri Lanka are required to be registered with the NDDCB, and 17 such centres had been registered in 2023. They provide treatment for various addictions including alcohol,tobacco, drugs, and gambling. Only 9 (52.69%) centres provide services for AUD. Seven (78%) of these centres are owned by private parties and 5 (56%) of them are located in the Western Province. Four (44%) such centres accept involuntary clients through court referrals. Many centres utilise non-evidence-based intervention such as forced abstinence. Three (33%) centres did not report collecting data to evaluate the effectiveness of their programme. The non-governmental sector contributes heavily to the provision of residential addiction counselling in Sri Lanka. These centres are concentrated in the Western Province. The science behind these interventions, and their success, safety, and legality need a closer look.