NU AT THE London School of Economics

NU's next big break came in 1938, when aged 30, he received a scholarship and leave to pursue postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics (LSE) as an internal student.

- Kumari JAYAWARDENA AND JENNIFER MORAGODA

The government was in the early stages of setting up a new Commerce and Industry Department, and NU's superiors had selected him to undertake the special one-year course of training in Business Administration offered by the LSE, to make NU's services "more useful to the department." He was expected to: "make a closer acquaintance with modern business methods and to acquire training in practical commerce" (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files).

In his admissions application, NU stated that he was interested in acquiring "a close acquaintance with the foreign marketing of primary agricultural products"; and that the Sri Lankan government would make arrangements with the recently established Colonial Empire Marketing Board to enable NU to familiarize himself with their marketing surveys. His special interest was the marketing of "oil seeds," since Sri Lanka was the leading exporter of copra and coconut oil (letter to Prof. Arnold Plant, 18 Jan. 1938).

LSE records indicate that NU received a scholarship of £300 for the year as well as half-pay as an allowance. The cost of the course was £30. Whereas his leave was for one year, NU provisionally sought permission to extend his studies for a further year. With his sights set high - as they always were he had ideas of completing a Ph.D. in two years if the LSE allowed it. For NU, this would not have seemed an unusual goal. However, there were strict rules and he was advised that he could apply for the M.Sc. degree concurrently with the Business Administration course which he did. He also had not given up his ambition of obtaining a law degree. Accordingly, NU almost immediately sought and obtained permission from the LSE to register and study for the (London) Bar examinations.