Pvt. University Bill aimed at creating degree shops – university dons

January 11, 2012, 9:47 pm , The Island.

By Rajith Savanadasa

At a panel discussion on a government move to establish non-state Higher Education Institutions yesterday, convener Ven. Dambara Amila thera said the proposed Higher Education act was a threat to free education in Sri Lanka.

Fellow panel member and senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Dr. Rohan Fernando summarized the contents of the proposed Bill, pointing out the major differences between the new Bill and the Act of 1978 and the amendments thereto in 1995. They are:

Etablishing non-state Higher Education Institutions

Creating the Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework, Quality assurance and Accreditation Board above the University Grants Commission in the Higher Education hierarchical structure

Establishing of a council called the Council for Non-State Higher Educational Institution

Permitting a Non-state Higher Educational Institution to register as a company.

Fernando said that the proposed board consisting mostly of political appointees would undermine the University Grants Commission as the Grants Commission chairman will be only a member of it. The non-state universities would function like a profit-making ventures catering to the rich. That would introduce demand driven courses and the traditional syllabi that include subjects like Humanities, History and Archeology would be discarded.

Prof. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri of the University of Colombo pointed out that there was a demand for higher education which could not be met by the existing national higher education system. He said there was also a decline in employability of graduates produced by the national universities. This is why the Qualifications Framework, Quality assurance and Accreditation Board had been created. However, there was the possibility of non-state universities becoming degree shops, warned Prof. Devasiri, stressing that commercialisation would run counter to the raison d’etre of a university. He cited examples of how privatization of the health and transport brought about the ruination of those sector.

Prof.  Mahil Mendis and Dileepa Witharana were also among the speakers who criticized the proposed Bill.