Universities need 1,200 more teachers

The universities are facing a shortage of 1,200 teachers, and urgent steps are needed to fill these vacancies, officials said yesterday.
Higher Education Ministry Secretary Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told Daily Mirror yesterday that about 500 Dr. Sunil university academics who Jayantha left the country for further Navaratne studies and had not returned.
He said the Ministry had decided on giving them incentives if they were to return, “

In this regard, the cabinet paper will be presented soon,” Dr. Navaratne said.
Federation of University Teachers spokesman Mahim Mendis said only an average of 25 per cent of lecturers who taught at universities had doctorates as their highest academic qualification. He said none of the universities of global rank would recruit anyone without a doctorate. He said that four Asian universities fall within the top 30 of the world.“tokyo and Kyoto Universities in Japan, Singapore University and Hong Kong Universty are a few of them. In this top category, there are 15 American universities. They do not recruit anyone without a doctorate to their staff. Universities cannot run without doctorate holders,” he said.
“In Sri Lanka, Peradeniya and Moratuwa universities are a little better as 35 percent of teachers there have doctorates. We do not have enough qualified university teachers in any discipline. We have to produce qualified persons in all academic disciplines,” he said. Dr. Mendis charged of not having enlightened public policies in SL, which has caused the present issue.