Editorial 

Water cannon & flames of unrest

August 30, 2012, 7:10 pm , The Island

The JVP has a peculiar attitude towards higher education. When universities are open, it wants them closed and when they are closed, it wants them reopened!

In the late 1980s, during its second uprising, the JVP coined a catchy slogan, 'Motherland first, Degree second––palamuwa maubima, devanuwa upadiya––to justify its efforts to disrupt universities and involve undergrads in protests against the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord and terrorist activities. Dissent was violently suppressed and undergrads, teachers and others who put up resistance were gunned down. Its slogan for schoolchildren was 'Motherland First, Education Second'––palamuwa maubima, devanuwa pasala.

But, today, the same political forces are braving water cannon and tear gas to have universities re-opened. What a volte-face!

On Wednesday, a large number of undergraduates led by JVP dissidents turned Colombo into a mini-battle field by trying to march to Temple Trees. They were demanding that universities be re-opened and university teachers' grievances redressed immediately. The riot police liberally used teargas and water cannon to disperse the protesters. The government had better brace itself for more such protests as ideology-driven student groups are sure to regroup and try to make a comeback.

One may not endorse the modus operandi of protesting undergrads who hurled projectiles at the police. However, one cannot but agree with them, in spite of their political motives, that the time has come for the government to swallow its pride and resolve the dons' strike through negotiations so that universities could be reopened without further delay. The Cabinet is said to have worked out a formula to solve the problem, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The government cannot resolve the university crisis by closing universities, and water cannon cannot douse the flames of political unrest spilling over onto the streets. Earlier, Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake boasted that only a section of university teachers had gone on strike and the strikers were reporting back for work in response to a government appeal to that effect. But, no sooner had he made that claim than he had to close the universities!

The government is apparently trying to turn public opinion against the striking lecturers by keeping universities closed indefinitely and blaming it on the strikers; its propagandists have already embarked on a campaign to vilify the office bearers of the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA). It is hoped that university dons will not play into their hands by boycotting the GCE (A/L) examination answer script evaluation due to commence shortly. Such action may serve the purpose of disruptive political elements riding the FUTA piggyback, unable to gain political mileage otherwise, but will certainly anger hundreds of thousands of children, their parents and well-wishers.

The government's waiting game is not going to work. Minister Dissanayake sought to justify his 'crackdown' on JVP student unions by claiming that universities had to be rid of politically-motivated student outfits and kept open at any cost. His tactics have apparently yielded results to a considerable extent. The JVP is no longer active in some universities and is fast losing its grip on others. But, Minister Dissanayake has done exactly what he once accused the JVP of; he has closed the universities! It is a supreme irony that he is now coming under pressure from JVP student activists to reopen universities! This is an interesting role reversal as it were.

Protracted labour disputes are like old anthills into which venomous snakes creep. Hence the need for the university crisis to be resolved through negotiations urgently! Regrettably, the government's arrogance knows no bounds. It seems to believe that simply because it commands a two-third majority in Parliament and is winning elections with the Opposition in total disarray it could railroad the striking dons into giving up their struggle easily. Its arrogance is likely to be its undoing.

UGC to submit Z-score settlement decision on Sep. 3By Chitra Weerarathne

August 30, 2012, 9:57 pm , The Island

The Supreme Court yesterday advised the University Grants Commission (UGC) to submit on Sept. 3, 2012, settlement in respect of the 2011 GCE A/L Z-Score dispute.

Faiz Mustapha PC, counsel for the UGC, told the Court that several meetings had been held between the members of the UGC, counsel for the petitioner students and the Attorney General. The outcome had been a success.

The petitioner students had recently filed a motion complaining that the authorities had pooled together the re-calculated Z-Scores of the candidates who sat under the examination under the old and the new syllabi. The Court on June 25, 2012, ordered the UGC to re-calculate the Z-Score treating the two syllabi as separate populations.

In the motion, recently filed, the students who sat the examination under the old syllabus have complained that the pooling together of the recalculated Z-Scores of the two populations is unfavourable to the old syllabus candidates. Their chances of university admissions have been impaired, they claim. President’s Counsel Palitha Fernando, the Attorney General appeared for the State.

J. C. Weliamuna and Saliya Pieris appeared for the student petitioners.

The Bench comprised the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and Justice K. Sripavan.

FUTA demand for 6 % of GDP for education: Free education not factored in – govt.

August 30, 2012, 9:59 pm , The Island

By Ravi Ladduwahetty

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) had not taken the component of free education, in calling upon the government to allocate 6 per cent of the GDP to the education sector, the government charged yesterday.

The FUTA was demanding that the government spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education as in the developed countries in the West, but it had not factored in free education at primary, secondary and tertiary education level, Media Minister and government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the weekly Cabinet news conference at the government Information Department auditorium yesterday.

The Minister said the people who were clamouring for higher fund allocations for the education sector talked only about funds allocated from national budget but they failed to take cognisance of the funds provided by the Finance Commission to Provincial Councils.

Minister Rambukwella said out of 9,700 schools in Sri Lanka only 330 were maintained by the government while the others were run by the Provincial Councils. "How many of them have factored in the quantum of funds allocated for tuition classes and the funds parents pay on behalf of their children for education in private and international schools?" the Minister queried.

Dons snub govt. stick to their main demandsby Dasun Edirisinghe

August 30, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island

Although the Cabinet of ministers had decided to establish a special category of service for university lecturers and appoint a high-powered committee to monitor the implementation of proposals submitted by the university lecturers, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) has refused to give up its on-going strike.

FUTA president Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island they would not suspend the trade union action until all demands were met, practically.

The Cabinet of ministers on Wednesday night endorsed the views expressed in the joint memorandum, submitted by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse and Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayaka that university teachers should be treated as a special category.

The Cabinet also decided to appoint a high-powered committee to monitor the implementation of the proposals agreed between the university academic staff and the authorities concerned.

It was also agreed that there should be an effective dialogue with the university academics and they acknowledged the need to make university academics active players in the development strategy of the government.

Dr. Devasiri said they would not accept those decisions as the government had forgotten the several other demands submitted by them.

"The cabinet did not talk about our salary hike or allocating 6 per cent of the GDP for education," he said.

The FUTAchief said that those Cabinet decisions were included in the Mahinda Chinthanaya policy document, too, but were yet to be implemented.

Dr. Devasiri said that they would not stop the ongoing strike until all their demands were met.

FUTA’s main demands are the allocation of 6 per cent of the GDP for education, consulting them when decisions are made on the higher education system and a pay hike.

Tertiary education based on specialised institutes must replace faltering university system in Sri Lanka

August 29, 2012, 6:51 pm, The Island 

In many countries – notably in the Soviet Union – specialised academic Institutes take on the task of training future specialists in key areas of learning. Suppose a school-leaver or a person with a first degree wishes to be a specialist physicist or obtain a diploma of specialization in this field. As things are in this country, he (or she) must enroll in one of the nondescript physics departments in our impoverished universities - which may, with justice, be described as mere teaching stations for undergraduates. The few competent physicists we have in this country are ‘loners’ in scattered places that serve as centres of undergraduate instruction. There is little professionalism in such places and it is a flight of extraordinary optimism to hope that such places will thrive as as centres of research and innovation. Suppose the scarce resources – human as well as the necessary peripherals – are concentrated in one place – a specialised institute – is it not clear that there will be a vast improvement in the quality of teaching and research in physics? Such institutes will offer courses for school-teachers, technicians and interested members of the public while taking over from the traditional universities the burden of instructing those reading for honours degrees in the subject. Research and teaching is best done when there is a critical mass of specialists working in an institute dedicated to the advancement of science. The low standard of research in our country is due to a ‘guru-sishya’ mentality in our places of learning.- the system where the is a ’know-all’ that passes his precious wisdom to his ‘disciples’. In scientific research, the young are often the great innovators and their teachers must stand aside when the need arises. This collegial spirit flourishes best when camaraderie is established between equals – a situation that is rarely seen in traditional places of learning but that which is vital for research in science. Hence the need for independent institutes of learning and research that foster this new spirit.

What has been said for the discipline of physics has a very general applicability. Thus Institutes foe Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Geology and the Earth Sciences, Mathematics etc can be established by combining resources and by affiliation with universities already established. The education of specialists – be they the elite or humdrum ordinary folk – will pass on to specialist Institutes dedicated to the single-minded advancement of teaching and research in a chosen field. The disciplines outside science – for example, history, languages and religious studies – can be ‘institutionalized’ along similar lines and a new sense of dedication instilled into the study of subjects widely regarded as staid and unglamorous. Suppose we succeed in this revolutionary approach to Tertiary Education – does it mean that existing universities will decline to the contemptible level of a post-secondary certification centres? They need not if the first-degree courses are revamped to be a powerful basis for launching into careers that are wide open to the persevering and the ambitious. The first degree must not be a specialization – thus ‘Arts’ students must follow a course in science while science students must learn some history and philosophy. Both groups must strengthen their grasp of English by taking special courses in this vital subject. If these innovations are adopted, the first degree can be a true preparation for challenging work in in Post-Graduate Institutes, Administrative Service, Teaching etc.

Let us conclude by speaking briefly about financial outlays – a very contentious issue among academics these days. The Institutes must seek funds from the philanthropic public, industry and from students with the capacity to pay for the instruction received. They must have the power to deal directly with sponsors and supporters of the work they are engaged in and to tailor their programmes to meet current demands in commerce and industry. This must surely be a welcome relief for those who are appalled to see universities being directed by trade-unions and ill-disciplined bands of students. The ethos of disinterested learning and service to humanity must be placed foremost in the work of the proposed Institutes. This means that scholars – not politicians - will the principal architects. The goodwill and dynamism of politicians must be co-opted to secure the ends that serve all.

R. Chandrasoma

Riot police descend on undergrads

August 29, 2012, 10:16 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe, The Island

 The police anti-riot squad yesterday fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse a protest march by undergraduates. Five police personnel were injured when some of the protesters pelted stones.

Thousands of undergraduates gathered opposite the Fort Railway Station and commenced their protest march demanding that all universities be re-opened, problems faced by the university teachers and non-academic staff be solved, education privatization plans and the Malabe Private Medical College be abolished and that all students affected by the Z–score mess-up be admitted to universities.

 The march organized by the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) led by JVP dissidents brought traffic to a standstill. It was proceeding towards Temple Trees when the riot police descended on the protesters dispersing them near the Telecom Junction.

Police spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that the police had been compelled to use tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protest as undergraduates had turned unruly and started pelting stones.

Five police constables had been injured in the attack, SSP Rohana said.

Why some University Teachers are not Participating in the FUTA Strike Action

25 August 2012, 9:25 pm , dbsjeyaraj.com

University Of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

by Mahendra Gunawardane

Everybody knows by now that the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) has been leading an all out trade union action of university academics. However, it has not been so widely known that there are some lecturers who refused to join the strike action. Some of them continue to teach their students without interruption and I am one of them.

Many would find it difficult to understand why some of us stay away from the trade union action while many others are engaged in.

The FUTA and its followers may like to know why some lecturers do not follow them. However, unless they ask why, I have no appetite to give them explanations and I certainly refuse to be apologetic. Nevertheless, I am happy to clarify my stance to my students and to the public who pay my salary.

My students already know very well why I refused to participate in the TU action, as I have discussed the matter lengthily with them intermittently during the long hours of lectures I had with them during the past month or so. Hence, the aim of this piece is to justify my action in the eyes of general public. I would like to point out also that even if the TU action is over by the time this is published, the arguments would always be relevant.

Though many lecturers, including even some who are on strike seem to have no clear idea on what FUTA really is asking for, the demands can be roughly put into three categories.

One demand of FUTA is that there must be further salary increases surpassing the unprecedented pay hikes given since mid 2011 until now. FUTA also demands that the government must spend 6% of the GDP on education. The third demand says that the education sector must be left without any political interference and the decision making in the sector must be left to the lecturers.

I had pre-planned to keep the students in the university by informing them well ahead of the FUTA strike action that I will continue to conduct lectures. My students stayed en masse, and to do them justice for hanging about for a single series of lectures, I had to take whole days of lectures with them without restricting ourselves to scheduled one or two hours. To do so, what had I in mind about the FUTA demands?

Salary and allowances:

I and my comrades who refused to join the FUTA action do not suffer from any allergy to money. If there are further pay hikes, it would be good for us as well. However, my conscience does not allow me to stick to such demands so arrogantly at the expense of my students. To me, it is almost like taking them hostages.

Therefore, I do not feel like resorting to strike action demanding further pay hikes. Nevertheless, if a salary increase is given under an agreement between the government and the FUTA or as a humanitarian overture of the government or as a result of the government knuckling under FUTA pressure, I would accept the increment without any shilly-shallying.

I am sure those of my profession who are on strike will be hopping mad by reading this. How would they be able to stomach the idea of people like me reaping the benefits of their struggle while opposing it completely?

I also believe strongly that one has an obligatory social responsibility to join hands in achieving common good. However, here I have to give preference to serving my students instead of joining a TU action that victimizes the students. I am well aware of the fact that a delay in graduation even by a month or two will be enough to delay the progress in the lives of students by years.

As we have been given extraordinary salary increases during the 2011-2012 years, the priority in pay hikes should now be given to employees of other sectors. I reach that decision as a supposedly educated employee who must thus have a holistic view on the country, its economy and the people. That is another reason for me not to join demanding a pay hike for university lecturers at this juncture.

The FUTA asks for allowances to give private-school education for their children and also to keep their children in fee-levying hostels. I have the self-esteem not to be a part of such wicked demands, which would infuriate the general public if they come to know.

The FUTA also asks from the government to take university teaching as a 24hour job and to give allowances accordingly. This is pure insanity, I think.

6% of GDP on education:

The Gross Domestic Product of a country is the total market value of all the products and services produced in the country within a year. The FUTA demands that the government must spend a 6% of the GDP on education.

According to recent statistics, the government income is about 14% of the GDP while the government expenditure amounts up to about 24% of the GDP.

A 6% of GDP is therefore exceeds 40% of the government income. It is also about one fourth of the total expenditure. If one fourth is to be spent on education, only three fourth would be left to spend on all the other things, including health, agriculture, salaries, pensions, etc. and for development activities. The reader will immediately realize the difficulty in allocating a good one fourth of expenditure on education.

I am reluctant to brand the FUTA officials as morons who cannot understand such simple logic. Having said that, I must admit that the FUTA bigwigs have always been trying to duck the question, when pressed to explain how on earth a government can spend that much on education.

The fact of the matter is that this demand for 6% of GDP expenditure is not at all a reasonable demand that has been formulated after careful analysis by FUTA on the Sri Lankan education sector. Instead, it is a demand put forward initially by the JVP as an attempt to instigate student unrest, if possible, for another round. There are reasons to believe that this demand was something forced down the throats of other FUTA officials by those who are linked to the JVP.

Even those who knew that it would be futile to launch an all out strike on a policy issue like this had to join hands, not to be seen as less enthusiastic in the struggle and thrown out as a result. The source from where the influence comes alone is a good enough deterrent for people like me to refuse joining the TU action.

Sri Lanka has been known as a country that gives much emphasis on education. It is legendary that the education is totally free here. Free education and free health are main indicators of our success story. These are achievements appreciated in the world and achievements we all can be proud of. It has been recognized all over the world that the standards we maintain in our education system are among the highest.

In the majority of other countries, the parents have to cough up money for their children’s education and the expenditure on education is calculated taking that also into account. This is the reason for some countries to show higher figures of expenditure than us, even though their emphasis on education remains very poor. I am unable to disrupt the education of my students going merely by some theoretical calculations that tend to depend on many variables.

Decision making in the university sector and political interference:

Some people may not know the fact that all the decisions in the university education are taken by nobody else but university academics. The Vice Chancellor who administers the university, the Deans of the Faculties and Heads of the Departments are university lecturers by profession. In a university, there are various decision making bodies of widest possible participation such as curriculum development committees, boards of studies, faculty boards, the senate and the council and they all are composed of nobody else but university lecturers. Above a university there is this governing body called the University Grants Commission. Who are the decision making officials at the UGC? They are university lecturers.

So, it is very wrong to say that there is any influence of decision making, other than that of the university lecturers themselves.

Nevertheless, one should not forget the fact that it is the public who spend billions on university education. What the government does is the management of this expenditure. Those who manage the expenditure have every right to monitor how it is spent at the universities. If there are some irregularities, shortcomings or scope for improvements, it is the duty of the relevant minister to interfere promptly, instead of sitting idle wasting public money. The problem, if any, is the lack of interference.

In the United Kingdom, there is no government interference at all on the university sector and as a result, the universities have to find money by themselves for survival. They had to increase student fees by many folds, an action that caused the recent student riots. There has been abrupt closure of many departments of studies of which the graduates have no value in the job market.

The lecturers there are recruited not on permanent basis but on the basis of three year contracts. Unless you bring in money to the universities by doing research on the request of outside commercial establishments, the contract will not be renewed and you will be thrown out at the end of the third year. Many non academic officials are also taken in on temporary contracts.

The education sector in my country is much more stable than that. The main reason behind this is the colossal expenditure the government spends on education, increasing the amount every year.

As university lecturers who know these facts, I and some of my colleagues have pledged not to stay away from our supposed to be noble duty of teaching.

That said, I have to admit that we too would join any strike action if the government is going to ruin our education system. However, it is clearly evident that it is not what this government is up to. Instead, it has ventured into improving the education sector and to make it capable of even earning foreign exchange. This is the exact meaning of the declared aim of making the island the hub of knowledge in the region.

Knowing all these, I cannot refuse to teach my student and, therefore, together with my likeminded colleagues, I refuse to participate in the current trade union action.

(Mahendra Gunawardane is Head of the Department,Department of Microbiology, University of Kelaniya)

FUTA trade union action – past and present IV

August 28, 2012, 12:00 pm 

By Nalin de Silva

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) twenty years ago submitted the demands as they came from the sister unions to the authorities but the strike decision was taken by the latter and conveyed to the respective Vice Chancellors. FUTA was in effect representing the teachers’ associations that came under its umbrella, and neither FUTA nor the sister unions as they are called did not alter the demands in midstream. A compromise was made, if at all, in the final stages of the struggle in order to come to a settlement still winning a substantial salary increase and some other demands. FUTA at that time never approached politicians, political parties, students, student unions nor other trade unions outside the university sector. Nor did FUTA allow others, be they political parties or trade unions, to approach it. Thus, it convinced the authorities concerned that its struggles were not politically motivated.

However, what has happened over the last one and half years is exactly the opposite. The FUTA took the strike decision and then informed the sister unions. That was not the method that should have been adopted according to the constitution of the Federation. Last year a token strike was held and then the Heads of Department resigned as part of the trade union action initiated by FUTA. There had been discussions earlier and the trade union action was taken without waiting for a discussion that the President had offered. The main demand was the increase of salaries of academics and one of the basic assumptions FUTA used to justify its pay hike demand was that the university academics were a special category and the underlying impression given to the public was that they were the best qualified in the country, if not the crème de la crème of the intelligentsia. It was said that the university academics should have obtained a very good degree at the time of recruitment and that the promotion criteria were very stringent. The government should have conducted a survey to find out how many academics have first class degrees and or Ph. Ds. There are many with second class (upper) degrees not to mention those with second class (lower) degrees. Then there are so many without Ph. Ds and one could easily find out people with better qualifications in other professions. How many of those leading FUTA can claim that they have First or Second (Upper) degrees and Ph. Ds? I do not attach much value to these paper qualifications but I am mentioning them since FUTA is fond of repeating these arguments on stringent criteria for recruitment and promotion. As I have said already none of the teachers have been trained in teaching, though whatever said and done the Sri Lankan universities are teaching institutions. Have the university academics in Sri Lanka adopted any new methods in teaching? As for research, the less said, the better! Research is not confined to universities and one could find many research officers with Ph. D’s in institutes carrying out research in their respective fields. Has any academic come out with a new concept or a theory during the last fifty years?

One could say that it is due to the absence of quality people in the universities that no research of good quality is carried out. This is tallied with the argument on recruitment and retention and if the salaries are increased the universities would be able to recruit talented people. However one could again make a survey to find out how many "better" people joined the universities as senior academics after the substantial salary increase twenty years ago. Matured people join the universities as senior academics for different reasons ranging from a desire to come back to Sri Lanka if they are abroad, and if they are locally employed for the freedom that is enjoyed by university teachers and for the fact that the retirement age in the universities is sixty five. The university academics do not have much work, as I know through experience, and all these talks of the academics working round the clock for twenty four hours are only fairytales. It is wrong to pretend that the university academics are a special category but I am glad that the FUTA under criticism has been compelled to change its stance and say the academics are a special category in the sense that those in various services belong to special categories. There is nothing gained by having university academics categorised as a special service and I would say that in the final analysis it would be counterproductive.

The 6% of the GDP for education was introduced towards the tail end of the trade union action last year, and this year since FUTA could not justify its insistence on the increase of basic salaries they demanded the government step up expenditure on education. FUTA has ignored the increases in allowances granted during the last few years. With the allowances academics are the better paid category in the public sector of course apart from the income generating institutions such as banks. On top of these allowances the university academics are paid a certain percentage of the fee levying courses subject to a ceiling and often the lion’s share is claimed by the teachers. As a result bogus certificate and diploma courses at a level below that of the undergraduate have been introduced and some of these champions of free education could be seen teaching these courses in universities. Neither FUTA nor the so-called Inter University Student Federation has objected in a meaningful way to these courses. In any event, FUTA insists on an increase in the basic salary, which has to be decided by the Salaries and Cadre Commission. It is one thing to make demands and it is quite another to make compromises during the negotiations as no trade union with reasonable leaders would expect to win all what they want. However, FUTA cannot justify its demand for higher basic salaries. It is very clear that insistence on an increase in the basic salary that could not be justified is nothing but an attempt to destabilise the government.

When FUTA realized that they could not proceed with their demand for an increase in the basic salary it changed the tune; it demanded that 6% of the GDP be allocated for education. It was a good tactic by the anti government forces in the FUTA and very soon they were able to obtain the support of the teachers’ union that is mainly responsible for the Z score fiasco asking the UGC to adopt the so called Thattil. This particular trade union attacks the government and the relevant ministers though it is responsible for forcing the UGC to adopt the erroneous Thattil method. FUTA misled the public by claiming that according to a UNESCO report government has to spend 6% of the GDP on education. The relevant section of the UNESCO report is reproduced here. "Education should be given high priority, and not less than 6 percent of a country’s GNP should be devoted to education, as recommended by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by Jacques Delors." Nowhere is it said that the government should spend 6% of the GDP on education. In Sri Lanka the total government expenditure is about 25% of the GDP, and it is obvious that this particular demand of FUTA cannot be met. The government has to spend on defence which I consider should get the first priority under present circumstances.

I would not say that the so-called Academic Spring with this 6% issue was introduced by somebody from the NGOs or anti-government lobby but it gave an opportunity for the latter to rally all the anti-government forces from Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thero to Anoma Fonseka against the government. It is not FUTA that organized last week’s rally; it lacks the ability to do so. Those who did so want the Academic Spring converted to another kind of Spring. It is expected that the government will enter into an agreement with FUTA this week, and I understand that the infamous FUTA demand that an allowance be granted to university teachers to educate two of their children in government or private schools will not be met.

FUTA strike will affect GCE A/L answer script evaluation

August 28, 2012, 10:15 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

University teachers who have been on strike for nearly two months claimed yesterday that there had been no response from the government for two weeks with regard to their agitation and their trade union action might affect the GCE (A/L) answer script evaluation process, which was scheduled to begin at the end of this month.

President of the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that they would have to wait until Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundara returned from China.

"We have been informed by our coordinator that it the government would consider calling a meeting after Dr. Jayasundara’s returns," he said.

Dr. Devasiri said that they had not decided to end the strike even though the government had closed universities.

Higher Education Deputy Minister Nandimithra Ekanayake said that the government had held several rounds of discussions with university teachers, but in vain.

Minister Basil Rajapaksa had got involved in the discussions with university teachers and it would be sorted out shortly, he said.

"We request the university teachers to come and evaluate the GCE (A/L) answer scripts without putting innocent students into trouble," Ekanayake said.

 

GCE A/L paper marking

August 27, 2012, 7:37 pm , The Island

Now that  members of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations are on strike and unable to mark answer scripts, I am sure that our all knowing politicians will be able to do it.

Mahinda

The FUTA option and its respectability

August 27, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island

By Jehan Perera

The public meeting last week by university academic staff led by the Federation of University Teachers Associations was a success both in terms of numbers who participated and the government’s response to it. The outcome of the event also points to the possibility of domestic pressure as against reliance on international pressure to make the government move. The modestly sized Hyde Park where the event took place has been a favourite site for public rallies and demonstrations organized by left and socialist parties in the past. This time it was members of universities, both staff and students, who filled most of the park. One of the achievements of the organizers was to get some 40 other groups to join the meeting. Those who were on the platform included the icon of the trade union movement Bala Tampoe of the Ceylon Mercantile Union, and the Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha, the Convener of a People’s Movement towards a just and righteous society to bring democracy back to Sri Lanka.

Unlike in the case of other protest meetings, most notably in the north of the country, the government made no visible attempt to obstruct the meeting at Hyde Park. There was no police submission to the courts to ban the meeting on the grounds of disturbance of the public peace nor an intimidating presence of security forces at the venue. The police however did close roads in the immediate vicinity of Hyde Park. This could have been to give greater freedom to those who attended the meeting to move to and fro without any possibility of clashes with those who may have been sent to disrupt the meeting or it could have been to prevent passing traffic from witnessing the meeting and joining it spontaneously.

For many who participated in the meeting, which was in effect a public rally, this would have been the first time in many years that they had engaged in a public protest-oriented activity. After the war entered its final phase in about 2007 there were real concerns about large public events, as they could be easily targeted for high cost terrorist activities. After the war’s end, the memory of its harsh end and the ruthlessness of the anti-terrorist campaign, which on occasion spilled over into acts of terror against even non-militant government opponents, chilled the enthusiasm for mass mobilization by civil society. For the past several years the public mobilization that has taken place has been by political parties.

NEW CONFIDENCE

As befits a public protest by the country’s academic community, the tone in which the meeting was conducted was generally calm and educational rather than emotional or rebellious. Another feature that softened the environment was the songs that were sung to provide a relaxing break from the large number of speeches. As about 40 groups had joined the meeting, and many of the leaders of those groups were sitting on the stage, there were a large number of speeches in which the speakers registered their cause and the case they were making. The ability to speak publicly and freely made the meeting to be a cathartic experience for many and would help to dispel the fear of mass mobilization that is still a heritage of the last phase of the war.

There was a feeling of confidence amongst the organizers that the worst was behind them and that the deadlock that had pitted the country’s academics against the government would soon be ended. Anyone who cares for the future of Sri Lanka would be very much concerned that the university teachers have been on strike for over two months and that the government has now closed all universities, with the sole exception of the medical faculties. One of the main grievances of the university academics has been the low priority given by the government to education, which forms a relatively small percentage of the government’s budget, as compared with other expenditures such as defence and physical infrastructure building. The running down of the education system by government neglect is bound to exacerbate the country’s long term difficulties in competing with the rest of the world on an equal intellectual footing.

It is unfortunate that the attitude of the government towards the grievances of the university teachers has so far not been conducive to conflict resolution. When faced with their demands, the government’s first reaction was to discredit the salary demands of the university teachers by describing them as excessive. The government negotiators claimed that their salaries had been increased by some 80 percent, but this was by the device of adding on all their allowances to their basic salary. The other major demand of the university teachers that educational spending should be closer to 6 percent of national income rather than the 1.9 percent figure as at present, was also countered by claiming that private spending by individuals who sent their children abroad to study should be added in and this made the total expenditure on education to come close to the 6 percent figure.

REPLICABILITY

The government’s efforts to discredit the demands of the university teachers was followed by reports of unidentified men lurking around the homes of FUTA leaders and claiming to be from the government’s security agencies. The president of the organization, Dr Nirmal Devasiri was specially targeted for this intimidation. Other FUTA leaders such as its Secretary Dr Mahim Mendis also complained of being at the receiving end of threats. However, there was no escalation of these ugly incidents. The dreaded White Van and its associated abductions and disappearances did not manifest itself. This can be counted as being one of the significant improvements in the country’s general human rights situation today as compared to the recent past associated with the war’s last phase.

It appears likely that the government will soon negotiate with the university teachers union leaders to resolve the problem. The government has shown itself to be sensitive to challenges that are people-based and capable of mobilizing popular support. The getting together of a large number of trade unions and civic groups on the same platform as FUTA points to the possibility of mass mobilization on the issue of university education which is possible in a manner that impacts negatively on the voter base of the government. The university crisis is one that affects all segments of the country’s plural population, which consists of different ethnicities and religions. The worst affected in this case will necessarily be the largest, which is also the governmentkey constituency. It is this political reality that is most likely to motivate accommodation on the part of the government.

The university teachers’ experience of the government suggests that the government can be flexible in the face of pressure. The challenge is to make the government feel that pressure. As the government appears to be driven more by pragmatic than ideological considerations, it can be flexible when it considers such flexibility to be in its political interest. The problem in the case of other festering problems, such as the still unresolved ethnic conflict, is that the political mobilization of the ethnic minorities does not erode the ethnic majority voter base of the government. The FUTA option of mobilizing all sections of the people, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, is presently not available in the case of the problems arising from the unresolved ethnic conflict. This is why the ethnic minorities look to other options, including appeals to the international community, to continue to put pressure on the government.

Editorial

Retaining dirty bath water?
August 26, 2012, 8:01 pm , The Island

Things that King Midas touched turned into gold. And anything our politicians touch turns into a mess. The Z-score dispute is a case in point. They have messed it up in such a way that people are beginning to lose faith in public examinations. It is speculated in political circles that moves are underway to scrap the Z-score method.

The current university admission imbroglio is due to bungling on the part of the Education Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC), but the government is apparently trying to attribute it to the Z-score! The ruling party worthies should own up to their blunders that have resulted in the GCE A/L results mess-up without trying to hoodwink the public.

Instead of busying itself with such pursuits the government should address the real issues affecting the education and higher education sectors. Universities remain closed save a few and their standards are rapidly deteriorating. The GCE A/L has evolved into a torturous process for children as the national universities lack resources to accommodate all students who qualify for higher education. If more funds are allocated for the development of universities with a view to enrolling a higher number of students, among other things, the stiff competition hapless children who cannot pay for their higher education either here or overseas have to face to gain university admission will become less severe. Students dependent on 'free' education fit the Dickensian description of pupils in Hard Times; they are vessels into which copious amounts of facts are poured. They are not at peace with the world and it is no surprise that the substance abuse and alcohol consumption are on the rise.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, immediately after his installation in 2005, summoned the education bigwigs and told them in no uncertain terms that children must not be used as guinea pigs in their experiments and wanted care to be taken when syllabi were revised and changes effected to examinations. But, unfortunately, what is being practised is the very obverse of his directive!

The Grade Five Scholarship Examination (GFSE) was being held while this comment was written. It is a glaring example of inequitable distribution of resources and other inequalities in the education sector; it is also a damning indictment on successive governments which have not cared to develop the state-run schools other than the privileged few in urban areas. They have, over the years, created a situation where the progeny of the affluent are admitted to Grade One classes of popular schools because of parental wealth and influence while the children of the less fortunate people who can neither peddle influence nor raise funds to oil palms are made to jump through the hoops to secure places in popular schools.

The government is preoccupied with grandiose projects such a building ports and airports while promising to make Sri Lanka the Knowledge Hub in the region. It is not ports without ships or airports without planes that this country needs urgently but the development of vital sectors like education and higher education. The government should get its priorities right.

As for the reported move to adopt a different method to rank GCE A/L candidates for university admissions, let the government be warned against making hasty decisions, according to its whims and fancies, which might lead to bigger problems causing further erosion of public faith in the university entrance examination. It is not the existing scaling method that, in our view, should be changed but the bungling politicians and their bureaucratic lackeys. The government is apparently trying to throw the baby out and retain the dirty bath water.

At last a civilized  debate on free education  (at least, until SB opens his mouth) By Namini Wijedasa, Lakbima News Like any other trade union action, the strike by university lecturers will have to end in the coming weeks. It is only a question of time, and of an appropriate exit strategy. Several ministers have already indicated that a draft agreement is ready for signing between the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and the state. It is expected to define the government’s commitments in response to the many demands put forward by FUTA. “It has been finalized,” said Economic Development minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is leading negotiations with FUTA after their talks with Higher Education minister S.B. Dissanayake broke down. Relations between the academics and Dissanayake are acrimonious. “The Higher Education and Education ministers have approved the draft that we agreed on,” Rajapaksa said. “Now we need approval from other quarters, including from Treasury secretary P.B. Jayasundere. This strike will definitely be settled.” ‘Not just a university issue’ Despite this assurance – which will be welcomed by students whose lectures, exam dates and graduation dates have been badly affected – a large number of trade unions joined up on Thursday for a rally supporting higher government investment in the education sector. Marching in procession to Hyde Park were members of clergy, university lecturers from around the country, industrial workers, school teachers and principals, non academic university staff, medical workers, journalists, free trade zone employees, lawyers, women’s groups, posts, telecommunication and railway workers, food, beverages and tobacco industries staff, electricity workers, transport service workers, some state sector employees and unemployed graduates. The procession and ensuing public meeting were peaceful. Although some attendees claimed to have seen a contingent of riot police around Hyde Park, they were not in evidence when this reporter attended the rally. There was no water cannon, no military, and police presence was minimal. Mahim Mendis, FUTA spokesman, said they had advised students to keep away from the march. “We did not want them to participate in the procession because any provocative action by the government would have led to a massive crisis,” he said. Mendis said students were furious the universities were indefinitely shut down by the minister last week. However, students are also divided over the academics’ strike which has been going on for nearly two months. Hyde Park was not brimming over with people but it was clear that FUTA had put on a respectable show. Many lecturers wore orange or black t-shirts with the words ‘6% Save Education’ and ‘6% GDP for Education.’ On the stage, speaker after speaker stressed on the importance of saving, enhancing and protecting free education which everyone agreed was in deep crisis. There was little or no party politics although the government was criticized over wastage and corruption. Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera was among several Buddhist prelates at the rally. The influential and widely respected prelate who heads the National Movement for Social Justice urged all members of the public to join their campaign. This was not just a “university issue,” he said. It was a fight to safeguard free education. The rain pelted down as he spoke; an aide held up an umbrella. All around them, people got drenched. Many huddled futilely under umbrellas, sometimes three persons to each. But they did not leave. And once the rain stopped, proceedings went on smoothly as before. ‘Don't mess’ An old couple in a blue three-wheeler attracted a lot of attention. They had hung a placard on the side of the vehicle that read: “Don’t mess with our granddaughter’s right to free education.” The woman said she was 80 while her husband was “83, not out.” She had been a nurse for 34 years while his background was in banking. Neither of them wanted to be named. “Poor people have lot of difficulties educating their children,” the woman explained. “I saw in the papers that when the president goes abroad he takes 58 people with him. Where do they find the money for that? That money should go to education. Can’t they give up some of their spending to buy books for children?” Mendis said the government has committed in principle to spend 6% of GDP on education, something that evolved into one of FUTA’s main demands. “But we want a very clear commitment in writing about how they will do this in this year’s budget, in next year’s budget and thereafter,” he stressed. “The government is notorious for making unfulfilled promises to students.” Regardless of how the FUTA strike ends, there is  no argument that it has spurned a lively debate about the future of free education in Sri Lanka. And the subject is being examined  for the most part (at least when Minister Dissanayake does not open his mouth) in a civilized and productive manner.

 

Cartoon, Lakbima News

Won’t these lecturers learn a lesson from politicos?

5th Column

the SUNDAY TIMES

My Dear SB,

I thought I must write to you to congratulate you on your latest achievement in ordering the closure of all universities in the country. With this decision, you will take us a step closer to becoming the ‘knowledge hub’ of Asia!

I know that many people are opposed to closing the universities, SB, but I think you took a brave decision that most of your cabinet colleagues would not have taken. In fact, it would be like Bandula cancelling the Advanced Level examination because of the ‘Z-score’ fiasco!

In fact, SB, I feel sorry for you because you seem to be at the centre of this controversy through no fault of your own. Bandula’s officials messed up the ‘Z’ score and you have been taken to task for that but Bandula is an old friend of yours, and I’m sure you wouldn’t mind the extra publicity!

And of course, we know what to expect from you. You are someone who spoke your mind even about decisions of the Supreme Court. So, if a bunch of university lecturers believe that they can beat you at this game, they must be sadly mistaken.

I am told that most of the problems in the universities these days are because these lecturers are demanding higher salaries. Now, at a time when Mahinda maama is doing his utmost to pay for contaminated diesel, election campaigns and international cricket tournaments, that is not fair, is it?

And it is good that you shut down all the universities because, judging by what we see on television, these university lecturers seem to be spending most of their time either holding news conferences or leading protest marches, instead of teaching at their universities.

So, even if the careers of thousands of undergraduates get delayed by a few months or even years, it would be good to shut down the universities for a while. At the very least, it would save us some electricity that Champika could put to good use to reduce the number of hours of the power cuts.

The lecturers are also asking that six per cent of government money be spent on education. Now, SB, you must tell them to mind their own business. How can you give them that kind of money when we have to bid for the Commonwealth Games, run Mihin Air and spend money on hedging deals?

These university lecturers, I am told, are also fond of saying that they are the best minds in the country and that therefore they should be paid better. They often point out that even a pradeshiya sabha manthree gets a higher salary and more privileges but I think that is not a valid argument.

Surely, becoming a pradeshiya sabha manthree is more difficult than becoming a university lecturer. It is true that you have to study hard, pass through numerous obstacles like the ‘Z’ score, then study some more at university to become a university lecturer.

But what most people don’t realise is that the preparation to become a pradeshiya sabha manthree is even harder. Why, you have to grease the palms of party officials, spend millions of rupees on campaigning and then fight with your colleagues for the manaapey to get elected.

So, SB, I agree with you when the government says that university lecturers don’t deserve the salary increase they are demanding when all they have to do is study hard and get through a few exams — and even that is made easier when free marks are given because of errors in the question papers.

In fact, I would suggest, SB, that politicians should get a salary increase instead. Why, just a few years after getting elected — and when you are still trying to recover all the money you spent in trying to get elected — you have to go through it all over again at the next elections!

You don’t have to worry about such issues, SB. I am sure your re-election is assured even at the next elections, whenever that may be. That is because the wisest decision you made in your political career was to abandon the Greens and return to the Blues, where you are content to keep a low profile.

In a way, it is best that you left the Blues and returned because had you stayed with them, I am sure you would have fought with Mahinda maama to become Satellite’s successor. And if that happened, by now you would be either in jail or a senior minister — I am not sure which is better.

I think that Mahinda maama has taken a wise decision to put you, a former student union leader, in charge of higher education, Bandula, a former tuition master, in charge of education and Grero, the owner of an international school to ‘monitor’ education. At last, education is on the right track.

So, I wish you the best of luck in your dealings with the university lecturers, SB, although you wouldn’t need a lot of it. That is because you can count on Bandula to create a bigger impact sooner or later — and whatever you do will be insignificant compared to that!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha

PS: It is indeed a pity that you are not the sports minister now. If you were, maybe we could have won another medal at the Olympics this year. Why, You-know-who would still be running and if you were still the minister, she would be running even harder and we could have even won the gold medal!

Playing Bandu with our education

By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent , the SUNDAY TIMES

State education sector in a tailspin as ministering angels’ blame game goes to ridiculous extremes

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Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena’s contention in Parliament last week was that, neither he nor Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka should be blamed for the problems that have engulfed the country’s state education sector in the past few months.

Instead, he chose to shift the blame on officials and experts within the education sector, for the recent muddle ranging from the Z-score calculation issue to faulty question papers given to Advanced Level (A/L) students. While it goes without saying that a minister depends heavily on officials to steer the activities of the ministries that come under their purview, in the right direction, they can in no way wash their hands of all responsibility for the mess-up in both the secondary and higher education sectors.
Minister Gunwardena’s attempt to justify the errors that were in the A/L examination papers, by saying such errors took place even in papers set for Cambridge exams in the UK, and that the number of errors was negligible percentage-wise, was also disheartening.
The Education Minister’s comments in Parliament came in response to several queries raised by JVP Parliamentary Group Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake who asked why there was such a high incidence of errors in A/L question papers, and what action would be taken to ensure that the forthcoming Z-score marks for this year’s examination would be calculated accurately. Instead of answers, what Minister Gunawardena did was read from numerous paper cuttings, to show that even in Sri Lanka, under previous education ministers too, similar problems had cropped up, and that the present uproar against him was an attempt to discredit him and the Government.
His equally embattled Cabinet counterpart, Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka too had to face questions from the Opposition, about his decision to close higher education institutions, with the Minister defending his decision, saying that it was necessary in the wake of the ongoing strike by the university academic staff. He dismissed claims by UNP Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera that the Minister had no authority to close these institutions.
However, the Minister said he had used the powers vested in him under the Universities Act of 1978, after consulting the relevant authorities, to close these institutes until further notice. Only the Medical faculties in the relevant universities remain open.
For now, both education ministers have stuck stubbornly to their positions, instead of trying to address the various issues that have come up, in an atmosphere of cordiality. For now, it’s likely that, the woes of the education sector as a whole will continue, unless the problems are dealt with the seriousness and urgency they deserve.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena

Other than the education sector crisis, the Government has had to deal with questions on the slow progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris had to once again respond to questions raised by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), by way of an adjournment motion in Parliament, on the measures taken to implement the recommendations of the LLRC.
“We are legitimately proud of our achievements during the last three years. In other countries, it has taken over a decade for normalcy to return after the end of a protracted war,” he said.
The Minister said that Mr. Sampanthan, in his speech, had dwelled exclusively on the past, and such a tactic was not constructive to achieving long term peace.
TNA Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan who moved the motion, said that the National Plan of Action to implement the recommendations of the LLRC, had not been formulated after due consultation with Parliament or the democratically elected representatives of the affected people.
He also brought up the issue of accountability, saying it is one issue that will not go away until there is honourable peace. “We don’t seek confrontation, but at the same time, this cannot be swept under the carpet and forgotten about. There has to be honourable peace for genuine reconciliation,” he said.
Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, who wound up the debate on behalf of the Government, blamed non-cooperation on the part of the TNA for the delay in finding a solution to the country’s national problem.
“Had the TNA named members to the Parliamentary Select Committee that has been mooted by the Government to find a solution to the national issue, proposals would have been finalised by now,” he said.