Editorial
The university crisis is far from over though hope is being expressed in some quarters that the warring dons and the government are likely to thrash out a compromise formula at long last. What is fuelling hope of a negotiated settlement is what is being described as a positive outcome of a recent meeting between the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The government is reported to have agreed, in principle, to a revision of university teachers' salary structure, according to which a senior university professor is expected to draw Rs. 115,000 per month. FUTA says it needs more time to consult its membership and negotiate with the Treasury officials. Their trade union action will continue.
All these weeks the government has experimented with an array of remedies including propaganda onslaughts against the protesting university teachers, but they only aggravated the problem to the extent of provoking the dons into threatening a boycott of the GCE (A/L) examination answer script evaluation. If they carry out that threat, absit omen, then the government will be left with no alternative but to seek the services of the many 'doctors' within its ranks such as the cardboard potentate of Kelaniya to take care of the examination work!
We have pointed out umpteen times that presidential intervention is a prerequisite for a settlement of the university dispute, which is far too serious a matter to be left to Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake. Unfortunately, the government tried to wear the dons down turning as it did a blind eye to the fallout of its harebrained action. It looks as if the government politicians had to undergo the leadership training programme designed for prospective university entrants because it is said to have a conflict resolution component.
Certainly there is no gainsaying that the government is faced with financial constraints and an extraordinary pay hike for university dons is likely to have a domino effect in the public sector as a whole but the government worthies could easily have softened their stand and negotiated with the dons without provoking them unnecessarily. They should not have waited until the university teachers resigned from their administrative posts and took to the streets plunging universities into a crisis, to offer a solution. At least now it ought to realise that it cannot coerce dons into submission through strong arm tactics and propaganda offensives. Its conspiracy theory has also not gone down well with the public this time around as many of the warring dons are known for their allegiance to the present regime; they backed President Rajapaksa to the hilt at the last presidential election.
The government deserves to be flayed for having mismanaged the university crisis, no doubt. It could have nipped the dispute in the bud but for its arrogance and callousness. However, there is a pressing need for the university teachers to be realistic and flexible in trying to win their demands. They certainly need better salaries but they must be prepared to settle for a realistic salary increase and to put their house in order. They are also responsible for the deterioration of university education over the past few decades. It is only wishful thinking that if the government expenditure on higher education is increased to 6 per cent of GDP as FUTA demands, hey presto, university standards will improve overnight. Dereliction of duty on the part of some dons is only too well known. FUTA is duty bound to ensure that the errant dons within its ranks fall in line.
The GCE (A/L) examination is only three weeks away and it is a crime to demoralise hundreds of thousands of students preparing to clear that decisive hurdle. It behoves the government and FUTA to sort out their dispute in time for that vital examination. An interim solution may be considered a possible way out.
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