The on-going university crisis

August 20, 2012, 7:42 pm, The Island

A Brief Statement from NASSL

A well-functioning higher education system is what enables a country to improve or at least maintain its comparative and competitive advantage in today’s globalised world. Sri Lanka has over the years benefited from a highly organized education system that the nation could be proud of, consisting of some 10,390 Government Schools, 76 Private Schools, 15 National Universities, 7 Post-graduate Institutes and a number of Vocational and Technical Schools, National Colleges of Education, and Vocational Training Institutes.

Unfortunately, the current stand-off between Government authorities and the teaching staff in the universities (together with the chaos that prevails in the university admission procedures), risks negating the outstanding achievements of Sri Lanka’s education system over more than half a century. Graduates of our universities have been able to hold their own with graduates of universities in the most advanced countries of the world. Our universities are the apex bodies that produce the highly trained manpower for the development of technology, research and the innovations needed to give the edge to Sri Lankan producers to remain competitive.

As a national body of eminent scientists created by an Act of Parliament and with a mandate "to take cognizance of and report on issues in which scientific and technological considerations are paramount to the national interest" the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka (NASSL) wishes to raise its deep concern over the degree of apathy that appears to prevail in the country over this crisis in higher education, with the national university system being dysfunctional for nearly two months. This type of closure of the most vital institutions in the higher education sector is highly undesirable and all Sri Lankans should be much more aware and express their concern more audibly about it. There appears to be no hurry to settle the issue or even to establish a meaningful dialogue. An approach of "wait-and-see" or endless confrontation are not tools to adopt when the future of the country’s education is at stake. The NASSL wishes to urge all parties concerned to act responsibly and to work with focus towards an equitable, lasting solution. The situation calls not for face saving measures but for action with nation’s interest at heart. We wait for the highest form of leadership to be displayed at this juncture.

Dr. Kingsley A. de Alwis

President, National Academy of

Sciences of Sri Lanka