Universities find it difficult to accommodate additional intake

November 26, 2012, 10:09 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

 Although the University Grants Commission and the Higher Education Ministry vowed to admit over 5,000 additional students to universities, following a Supreme Court order, faculty boards of universities are crying foul due to a shortage of facilities to accommodate them.

Undergraduates claimed that some faculty boards decided to stop some academic courses and they had informed their decision to the UGC recently.

Convener of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Sanjeewa Bandara told The Island that two academic programmes of the Agriculture Faculty, of the Peradeniya University, had been suspended by the faculty board due to the huge increase in the number of students.

Normally, 50 undergraduates were admitted to the Animal Science and Fisheries degree programme, he said adding that this time an additional 29 students had been added to the course as the intake was increased to honour the court ruling.

Bandara said that the faculty board decided to stop the course due to lack of facilities to meet the enhanced intake.

He said that the UGC sent 56 more students to the Agricultural Technology and Management degree course in the same faculty and the faculty board decided to stop it too.The situation was same in the other universities, but yet had not informed the UGC, Bandara said.

When contacted for comment, Dean of the Peradeniya Agriculture Faculty Prof. K. Samarasinghe said that they had not stopped the degree programme, but they could not recruit the new batch as it was too big.

"We are conducting three degree programmes, Animal Science and Fisheries, Agricultural Technology and Management, Food Science and Technology," Prof. Samarasinghe said adding that 275 students had been enrolled for the three courses on the basis 200, 50 and 25 respectively.

There were some subjects common to all three degree programmes and the lecture halls could not accommodate more students at one time, he said.

Prof. Samarasinghe said because of that the faculty board decided not to enroll the new batch until additional facilities were given.

Secretary of the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne refused to comment.

"We will look after that and the media need not worry over those solutions," Dr. Navaratne said.

 

Dons allege VCs violating their agreement with govt.

November 25, 2012, 9:24 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

University teachers yesterday claimed that Vice Chancellors of universities countrywide, were refusing to accept and implement the conditions in the agreement between the government and the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA).

These conditions are spelt out in a joint statement issued after both parties came to an agreement which resulted in the suspension of the FUTA’s 100-day strike on Oct. 13.

They said that the government’s response to FUTA’s demands, including the cancellation of eight circulars issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), allocating 6 per cent of the GDP for education, consulting university teachers before commencing the leadership programme for prospective university entrants, a pay hike, etc. was included in the joint statement signed by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake and FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri.

Dr. Dewasiri told The Island that one and half months had passed since the statement was issued, but university administrators had refused to implement it.

"We will meet Minister Dissanayake on Dec. 03 to review the progress of the agreement," the FUTA Chief said, adding that the neglecting of the joint statement by VCs was the major issue to be taken up at the meeting.

Dr. Dewasiri said that they would also discuss the appointing of members to the proposed committee to look into the problems university teachers were faced with.

the FUTA had been asked to name two members to the committee and it would make a decision at its next Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday (29), the senior academic said.

Dr. Dewasiri said that UGC had already informed them that they could withdraw only three circulars out of eight. "According to the UGC, three circulars would be withdrawn, two would be amended, one would remain and two would be discussed with the Treasury and the Labour Commissioner," he said.

The FUTA would discuss it at Thursday’s Ex-Co meeting and inform its decision to the government at the Dec. 03 meeting, he said.

When contacted, Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that they had sent a letter to Vice Chancellors of universities countrywide, last week, to abidy by the agreement.

"However, university teachers still have problem over the implementation of the joint statement. We will discuss it at the meeting scheduled for December 03," Dr. Navaratne said.

Govt. to back private unis, won’t privatise state ones

SundayTimes
The issue of private universities came up in Parliament on Wednesday, when the votes of the Ministry of Higher Education were taken up for debate. Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka said that Government would encourage private higher educational institutions, but would not privatise State-owned universities.

“Of the 150,000 students who qualify for higher education in this country, only around 20,000 can find placements within State universities. It is the responsibility of the Government to find them educational opportunities in the country,” he said.

The Minister added that Sri Lankan students were going to countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan for medical studies, as there is resistance to private medical colleges within the country. “Not one, but we need two, three or four private medical colleges in Sri Lanka,” he said.

UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe said that his party would not object to the setting up of private universities, but oppose the lack of transparency in the procedure adopted by the Government in this regard.
“It is ironic that, those who once spoke against private education, are now speaking in support of it,” he said.
JVP MP Anura Dissanayaka who spoke during the debate, accused the Government of setting up private universities, and attempting to cripple the State ones. “The Government needs to invest money in State universities,” he said.

Does Grade 5 scholarship exam show academic superiority?

November 23, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island


by Douglas King

President Mehinda Rajapaksa has a justifiable goal of Sri Lanka becoming an "educational hub" in this region of Asia in a similar way that Singapore achieved. The President has taken initiatives in several areas of education that may sow the seeds towards his vision. The "Year of English and IT" which he kick started has long gone and in the opinion of some educators, little has changed in the way English is taught or practised. The President is now embarking on a far reaching goal of updating 1000 secondary schools. Only time will tell whether Sri Lanka will be recognised as having "World Class" education.

The annual grade five Scholarship examination is now firmly embedded in the educational year timetable. Theoretically, to justify this major country wide test being foisted upon more than 300,000 nine and ten year old children, the results should identify the academically most gifted students and predict their success through school, university and beyond.

Several factors have inspired me to make some basic research into the validity of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination which has become a vital aspect of the education system. Three very different incidents have come into my purview. A middle income neighbour of mine was very disappointed several years ago when his son scored less than 100 in the examination despite scholarship tuition classes twice weekly for 18 months. The local primary school he attended had also intensified similar test paper revision for students in grade 4 and 5. It was difficult enough for the parents to cope with such failure but the effect on their son was more severe and he refused to attend school for the following 3 weeks after receiving the result. By contrast another neighbour, a daily labourer and very low income, was both astounded and gratified that his son scored 171 and in the top five percentile in the country. In this case the boy had not attended any extra private tuition classes. A third occurrence is that of a recent university graduate who I know very well. He is among the brightest and most able and intelligent young men I have met and is well on his way to post graduate education or a well paid career with a large business. His scholarship score in 1999 was well below 100.

Highly competitive

In October 2010 Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena announced that the government was considering shifting the Grade 5 scholarship examination to Grade 7 to reduce the pressure on students. The Minister went on to say that medical specialists who attended the consultative committee meeting of the Education Ministry considered that the Grade 5 scholarship examination placed an undue burden on children at a tender age.

"The Grade 5 Scholarship exam is a highly competitive Sri Lankan examination conducted by the Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education. Based on the results of the exam, students could transfer to prominent national schools. This Exam is a means for gifted students from villages to move to better schools with government scholarships. Annually, cut-off marks are set by the Ministry of Education based on demand for individual schools." Most primary schools add extra lesson periods for students to practise past examination papers. In addition many students attend private tuition classes practising the same tests. Every parent likes to enroll their child to a popular good school in major cities and hope that their child will obtain a high mark in Grade 5 Scholarship examination.

Over 300,000 children are entered for the grade 5 scholarship examination every year. In 2004 approximately 7% obtained marks above the cut off and around half of these were below the income level necessary to receive bursaries, so approximately 8,000 received bursaries out of the 300,000 who sat the examination. The Mean mark was 38%. It is unlikely that subsequent years reflected major changes in these statistics. Despite the Scholarship examination occupying such an important part in the education system, it has not been possible to find any published research on the subject.

The Scholarship examination questions and format are planned to identify the children that are well above average intelligence and who are considered best able to take advantage of the higher academic standards in certain schools. Eight years further down the education road and only students who score very highly in "A" level examinations, and thus the coveted "Z" score, gain a place in one of the government universities. There should be a positive correlation between the grade 5 scholarship results and Z scores. A survey of 100 students at University of Peradenya shows some interesting statistics.

Year 1998/9 62 students

6 scored higher than the cut off mark of 135 1 scored 180 and the remaining 5 scored within the 135-145 range 16 scored less than 100 2 scored 51 or 69 35 scored between 100-135 and therefore failed to pass. Only 1 student scored high enough to be admitted to one of the very popular 20 boys’ schools.

Year 2000 cut off mark 146 37 students

14 scored less than 100 4 passed the cut off mark with the highest being 168 19 scored between 100 and 146 and therefore failed to pass.

The marks were given voluntarily by students on pieces of paper and did not identify their names so an assumption can be made that these are accurate with only a small margin of error due to memory. A student gaining a university place implies a very high "Z" score and should indicate very high ability and intellect. Yet to a great extent their performance at the grade 5 scholarship examination does not indicate any academic superiority.

Further research

Further research was made on the 3 years scholarship examination results of 80 grade five students at a popular semi-urban primary school. In the most recent year, 2012, only 1 student qualified for a place in one of the top boys’ schools. 30% of students scored less than 100 marks (38% of total marks). 13 (16%) passed the cut off of 142 of which approximately 50% (6) were below the income level to receive financial bursaries.

The results for the years 2010 and 2011 are similar and show less than 5% variations.

Several years of extra scholarship classes at the school and similar extra classes at tuition centres for 80 children results in only 1 child achieving entry into one of the coveted 20 urban schools, and 6 children entitled to financial assistance. To add a necessary extra dimension to this research requires a follow up of those students who are the "heroes" of the examination.

In a recent article by Carmen Wickramagamage she writes "Every year, around this time, the Lankan media become engrossed with a phenomenon that I find distressing, if not downright annoying: the parade on TV and newspapers of the supposed high achievers at the Grade V Scholarship Exam. This year is no different and we have already been treated to the photographs, interviews and life stories of these kids flanked by their proud parents and/or teachers. Every year the phenomenon irritates me. It irritates me because the publicity only encourages an already skewed education system: the race to be first, the race to get perfect scores or grades at exams at the expense of everything else that formal school-based education is supposed to be about:"

Select school children

There are 20 "select" boys’ schools and 20 "select" girls’ schools which in total offer around 5000 places in their grade 6 classes. Some obscure evaluation system ranks these schools according to the level of marks required for entry. Thus the schools at the top of the list may require 170+ and those at the bottom of the list 160+. Some of these schools have primary classes and entry at grade one is based on locality and not academic selection. How do these students compare with the "scholarship" entrants when they receive their "A" level results?

The research identified in this article is only on a small scale and a larger sample is necessary to be sure that the results can be generalised. However, it does raise some serious questions as to the purpose and validity of the scholarship examination. The majority of children "fail" to achieve the cut off point and even if the word "fail" is not used, the reality cannot be avoided. Numerous well meaning parents subject their children to unnecessary stress through private tuition classes, spending money they can ill afford in the very remote possibility of achieving a high score.

What does the scholarship examination test? Is it a test of IQ or a test of rote learning? Does it really identify intellectual superiority? Do all these numerous extra classes benefit the children or only the teachers? How many people now in top positions in government or private corporations achieved higher than the cut off mark, or how many scored less than 100? What happened to those 5000 students who achieved the highest marks in the country? Certainly a lot more research needs to be done to answer these questions? As a step towards the President’s goal of Sri Lanka boasting a world-class education system, the necessity and desirability of the scholarship examination needs serious consideration.

(The writer could be contacted at douglasking1939@yahoo.com)

Most universities fail to answer audit queries

November 23, 2012, 10:11 pm

by Dasun Edirisinghe, The Island

Most of the universities have not answered audit queries during the last few years. This had been noticed by the Parliamentary watchdog, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

Universities and Higher Educational Institutions, coming under the University Grants Commission (UGC) met the COPE during last three weeks.

Sources said that each university had an audit committee and they met at least four times a year to answer audit queries.

"The Peradeniya University did not answer 189 audit queries during the 2009 /2010 period," a high ranking official of the university sector told The Island on condition of anonymity.

He said that Sabaragamuwa University too, was badly exposed at the COPE hearing for ignoring audit queries.After the COPE advised the administrators of those universities on their responsibility, they were now correcting their grave lapses, he said. When contacted for comment, UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said that there had to be accountability in universities as they dealt with public money.

He said that the financial auditing helped to mitigate waste and corruption, but, academic auditing was also very important for the universities.

"Universities in other countries, including those in India, had academic activities too under auditing," Prof. Samaranayake said.

He said that they wanted to establish good governance in the universities.

A Way forward

Global higher education system and the proposed knowledge hub for Sri Lanka:

November 22, 2012, 12:00 pm , the island


Speech delivered by Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Chairman, University Grants Commission, at the AGMof the Sri Lanka Quantity Surveyors Association in Dubai

Continued from Midweek Review

on 21. 12. 2012

To accommodate an increased demand of university education ad hoc measures such as creating another Faculty of Arts in Colombo and a Faculty of Science in Peradeniya was taken by the government. By 1970 the number of universities increased to five and by 1978 there were seven universities in the country. The rest were established after 1994.

The number of students entering higher education thus increased form 1612 in 1948, to 5000 in 1959, to about 14,000 in 1970 and 17, 449 student enrolments in 1978. By 1988/89 there were 29,781 students internally in university education. At present, 80, 000 students are in universities. Annually about 13,000 internal graduates pass out from universities and more than 50 percent of them are from the Arts and management streams. The output of external graduates is around 6,500 and the Open University too has an output of about 500 per year. Thirty years ago 70 percent of the student population was admitted to the faculties of Social Sciences and Humanities. In addition, since 1962, there has been a system of external examinations in university education and almost 200,000 students are registered with the eleven universities in the country.

Currently, there are 14 conventional universities, three campuses, one open university, 9 undergraduate and 7 post-graduate institutes, 9 degree awarding institutes under the purview of the University Grants Commission. Besides, there are two religious universities under the Ministry of Higher Education. There is one university under the Ministry of Defense, and one under the Ministry of Vocational Training. Thus, there are 19, universities have been engaged providing higher education under the principle of Free Education since 1945. Almost, 80,000 students are studying at our universities. Another, more than 150, 000 students are there as external students. The exact statistics are not available regarding the number of students in universities overseas. According to estimates of the UGC nearly 8000-10000 students leave the country for higher education annually.

Issues and Challenges

The biggest challenge facing our university education is offering equity in access and quality of education. In 2010, 54,000 have applied for 22,000 placements at our universities. The Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) the ratio of students enrolled in higher education to the size of the age cohort between 18 to 24 is close upon 16 per cent. The UGC is planning to increase the GER up to 20 per cent in 2016 and 30 per cent in 2020. It is essential to have the GER to level of 20 per cent to move to a knowledge economy.

The challenge before us is to increase access to higher education while improving the quality of education to suit the demands of the new millennium. The answer lies in changing the traditional model of teaching and learning measured by where we study and what we learned. New pressures such as alignment of industry and the demand of the workforce, the move to mass education, a geographically fluid workforce and mass communication have exacerbated the need to move away from rote learning to competency based education. Therefore, we need to redefine our programs to provide competencies for a new generation of learners.

The state monopoly in higher education has come under increasing pressure as the state has not been able to keep pace with the demand for higher education and diversify and increase access and quality at the same time. We at the UGC are grappling with issues of expanding access and quality and it is well known fact that the state cannot allocate the financial resources required to meet these challenges and neither can the country find the human resources required to increase quality.

Given the rapidly changing context globally as well as within Sri Lanka the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC are compelled to rethink its policies and strategies and as I said before forecast change and plan for change. If not we are left behind and the forces of change will continue in an unplanned and unregulated environment which is not conducive for the development of the country. Establishing Sri Lanka as a knowledge hub in South Asia is one such that is being explored.

Knowledge Hub

A Knowledge Hub is broadly defined as a designated region intended to attract foreign investment, retain local students, build a regional reputation by providing access to high-quality education and training for both international and domestic students, and create a knowledge-based economy. A knowledge hub is concerned with the process of building up a country’s capacity to better integrate it with the world’s increasing knowledge based economy, while simultaneously exploring policy options that have the potential to enhance economic growth. An education hub can include different combinations of domestic/international institutions, branch campuses, and foreign partnership, within the region. The main functions of hubs are to generate, apply, transfer, and disseminate knowledge.

The concept of a knowledge hub for Sri Lanka was proposed by HE the President Mahinda Rajapaksa through his policy document during the presidential election in 2009. It is stated that Sri Lanka will "develop youth who can see the world over the horizon". "We have the opportunity to make this country a knowledge hub within the South Asia region. I will develop and implement an operational plan to make this country a local and international training centre for knowledge".

The Ministry of Higher Education is grappling with the empirical implications of translating this promise into reality. The Ministry has invited foreign universities to set up campuses to provide a more diversified higher Education programme to increase access for local students and to attract students from overseas to study in Sri Lanka. Just as in Singapore Sri Lanka’s strategy is to piggy- back on internationally renowned universities so that the process is cost effective and mutually beneficial. Furthermore, it is planned that 10 branch campuses of "world class" universities would be established by 2013. The Knowledge Hub Agenda has given greater prominence especially to the fields of Science and Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Skills Development, and Research and Development in Applied Sciences.

Malaysia is the first country in Asia that has strategically established itself as a knowledge hub admitting 100,000 overseas students, although the university education in Malaysia was introduced far later than Sri Lanka. It has a clear strategy to consolidate as an international hub for post graduate studies. Another successful hub is Hong Kong although its catchment area is more Southeast Asia than South Asia. Other countries such as India, Singapore, Viet Nam and Thailand are aspiring to establish a knowledge hub in their respective regions. India, attracts a 100,000 students annually while Hong Kong, attracts 5,823, China 162,895, and Singapore 72,000 overseas students annually. Sri Lanka has a projected target of attracting 10,000 foreign students by 2014 which would increase to 100,000 by 2020.

Advantages

Sri Lanka enjoys several advantages to develop into an education hub. First, of all the ever increasing demand for higher education in the country is an impetus for growth and advancement. Annually, well over 250,000 students sit for the Advanced Level Examination and half of them are qualified for university education. However, only 22,000 are able to enter university education in the country. Of them, 9000 enroll in vocational training through 12 Advanced Technological Institutes, 20,000 enroll at the Open University, 8000, access overseas education, 20,000 register as external candidates while 9000 are studying for a foreign degree via cross border institutes. Nearly, 60,000 students are looking for alternative higher education locally.

To be Continued on Saturday

Pera U’grads protest against ‘leadership’ training

November 22, 2012, 9:35 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Undergraduates, of the Peradeniya University, protested at the Galaha Junction, blocking the Colombo – Kandy road, against the leadership training programme for university freshers.

President of the Students’ Council Janaka Madushan told The Island that the government was now putting new undergraduates through military training claiming it was leadership training.

He said that several students were injured during last year’s training, but the government did not compensate them.

"We marched from the University to Galaha junction and held a demonstration there," Madushan said adding that they would continue this protest with other universities joining in.

The Higher Education Ministry had planned to commence the leadership training programme, for the next batch of university entrants on Dec. 27 at 25 centres countrywide.

Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that this year, the leadership training programme had to be postponed twice, in May and November, due to university teachers demanding that it be delayed until they submitted their recommendations.

"We planned to start this year’s leadership training programme in three batches consisting of 9,000 students each," Dr. Navaratne said.

He added that this time 26,721 students would undergo the leadership training programme in military and police establishments countrywide from Dec. 27 to Jan. 13.

"We consulted Vice Chancellors and faculty boards of all universities before deciding on the dates for this year’s programme," Dr. Navaratne said adding they made several changes in the programme following VCs comments.

UGC says ‘no pay’ circular stands
FUTA members already paid for strike days

November 22, 2012, 10:59 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Although the UGC has decided against abolishing the controversial circular No. 890 of June 7, 2007, which deprives university employees of their salaries during a strike, the university teachers, who struck work for one hundred days at a stretch, from July 04, have already been paid their salaries for that period, The Island learns.

The university teachers were paid their salaries for more than three months, in spite of their strike, in keeping with an agreement between the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The abolition of eight circulars including No. 890 is one of FUTA’s main demands.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, contacted for comment, confirmed that university teachers had already been paid their salaries for the period between July 04 and Oct. 12.

Asked whether the FUTA would object to the UGC’s decision to retain the controversial circular, Dr. Dewasiri said a decision on that matter would be taken at the FUTA Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 29.

Having suspended the 100-day-long strike, consequent to an agreement with the government, the FUTA said that the government would have to face the consequences if the latter failed to honour its promises.

Universities in crisis - Kabir

Security officer paid Rs. 93,000 but a don only Rs. 45,000

November 22, 2012, 7:03 am , The Island

by Saman Indrajith

Former Tertiary Education Minister, UNP Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim, yesterday charged that the University Grants Commission (UGC) was interfering with everything in the higher education sector but had failed to perform the duties entrusted to it.

Taxes on a Lamborghini amounted to around Rs. 125 million and they had been waived, the MP said. "That amount alone is sufficient to cover the university students’ scholarship expenditure for one year. The university teachers’ struggle for a better pay is very reasonable.

An officer in charge of Rakna Lanka security services in universities draws a monthly salary of Rs. 93,000 while a university lecturer draws only a monthly salary of Rs. 45, 000," MP Hashim said.

Speaking during the committee stage of the budget debate on the Ministry of Higher Education, Hashim lamented that the funds allocated from the budget for the higher education sector were not sufficient to ensure the smooth functioning of the universities. "Only Rs 1,000 million has been allocated for the higher education sector from this budget. This amount will not be sufficient to increase the salaries of university teachers. The government has allocated only 2.4 percent of the GDP for education. Thus, it shows that the struggle, the university teachers engaged in, has not yielded the desired results and it could be predicted that there will be more agitations," he said.

University dons lose pay for 100 days

November 21, 2012, 10:45 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The University Grants Commission (UGC) yesterday declared that Circular 890 of 7th June, 2007, which stipulates that workers are not entitled to salaries during their strikes couldn’t be rescinded under any circumstances.

A senior UGC official was responding to the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) demand that circular in question be repealed in keeping with the agreement university teachers had entered into with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The FUTA is pushing for the removal of eight circulars.

The official told The Island that of them, three would be rescinded shortly, whereas two could only be amended. According to him, a decision couldn’t be taken on the remaining two circulars without consulting the Labour Commissioner and the Treasury.

Having suspended its 100-day-long strike, the FUTA warned that the government would have to face the consequences in case of its failure to honour its promises. The UGC said that a committee had inquired into the FUTA’s demands and examined the issues at hand closely before a decision was taken not to do away with Circular 890 of 7th June, 2007.

The UGC is of the view that there is no reason to rescind the circular No. 890 which dealt with trade union action. According to the circular, employees would not be paid for the days they were on strike.

A senior UGC official pointed out that it was a recommendation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Supreme Court did not grant leave to proceed when the validity of circular No. 890 was challenged before it by a trade union.

The UGC had decided to refer the issues raised with regard to circular No. 955 of 28th April, 2011 on reckoning of allowances for the purpose of computation of Universities Provident Fund, Employees Trust Fund and Payment of Gratuity and circular No. 990 of 31st July, 2012 on payment of a research allowance to the academic staff who are on study leave, to the General Treasury and the Commissioner General of Labour for approval, Prof. Samaranayake said.

He said the UGC had also decided to refer the issues raised with regard to circular no. 805 of 10th July 2002 on utilization of income derived from violation of agreements and bonds entered into with universities by teachers who have hone on study to the Treasury for its observations.

Circulars No. 896 of 8th July 2008 on sabbatical leave to teachers and officers and No. 959 of 12th July 2011 on granting study leave to teachers have been amended.

AUGC letter dated Nov. 22, 2010 on unauthorized media presence at universities/higher educational institutions had been withdrawn, Prof. Samaranayake said, adding that the circular No. 956 of May 3, 2011 on clarification regarding the position of the head of department of study in universities, campuses and the heads of departments in higher educational institutions had already been withdrawn by letter dated July 25, 2011, he said, noting that establishment circular letter No. 10/2011 of May 6, 2011 on the same subject had also been withdrawn. The circular No. 991 of August 6, 2012 on the UGC nominees appointed to serve on the selection committees had been withdrawn, he said.

The UGC informed all Vice Chancellors, Rectors of the Campuses and Directors of the Higher Educational Institutes of its decision in a letter with copies to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary of the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne and FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri.

When contacted for comment, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri said that he had received the copy of the letter, which he said would be discussed by the FUTA Executive Committee shortly.

Jumbos woo FUTA dissidents

November 18, 2012, 12:00 pm


by Dasun Edirisinghe. the island

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reiterated the UNP’s support to the university teachers in their ongoing struggle in the education sector. At a meeting held at the Colombo Mayor’s official residence, the UNP leader lambasted the government for failing to address problems in the education sector. From left (Sagala Ratnayaka, Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Kabir Hashim and Ranil Wickremesinghe(Pic by Nimal Dayaratne)

Having decided to form an association of university teachers affiliated to the UNP, the party leadership yesterday initiated a dialogue with a section of university dons.

A delegation led by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe met a group of university teachers at the Colombo Mayor’s residence.

Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MPs Mangala Samaraweera, Kabeer Hashim, Ravi Karunanayake and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam took part in discussions. Kurunegala District MP Kariyawasam told The Island that more than 50 university teachers had participated in the discussion to work out a plan to win their legitimate demands. The two sides would meet again soon to finalize their plans, he said.

Kariyawasam quoted some of those teachers, involved in the discussion, as having said that the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) had betrayed their struggle to win their demands including a pay hike recently.

They had alleged that FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri was taken for a ride by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa to call off the 100-day strike on Oct. 12, and the government had reneged on its promises.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said that the decision to resume work had been a collective decision.

Waste and corruption in the university system

The Care of Children – 18

November 18, 2012, 12:00 pm

By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, The Island

I have been wondering for some time about whether this column should also deal with the problems of university students. Last week, having found myself by far the oldest among the Sri Lankan delegates to a Conference on Indo-Sri Lankan relations held at Osmania University, and older too than most of the Indian participants, I realized I had to accept I was clearly of an age to think of university students, and indeed many lecturers, as children in need of care.

This feeling was exacerbated by the excellence of the presentations by the younger participants at the Conference. Whilst some older lecturers seemed to content themselves with jargon, the session I chaired had two very bright girls from Jawaharlal Nehru University who produced excellent and very practical papers on the Sri Lankan diaspora. They however were postgraduates, and from a place I have long known as a centre of excellence, admission to which is highly competitive. To my surprise they were equaled by two undergraduates from Patna University, who did a precise and well argued presentation on Indo-Sri Lankan trade relations.

I cannot imagine many Sri Lankan students doing as well. This is not because they are not equally capable. The problem is that we hardly stretch them, with many lecturers in many departments thinking that reading out notes to be copied constitutes teaching.

Of course there are exceptions, and I can think of at least two universities, and several faculties, the products of which are as good as those from Indian universities. But one of the universities that is of high quality is the Kotelawala Defence University, and it is precisely because its staff as well as its students are not allowed to sink into complaisance that its students have improved in quality.

Sinking lower

Peradeniya, on the contrary, seems to sink lower and lower with every passing year. The second immediate reason for my worries about what our students are getting is that, on the two days before I left for Hyderabad, I attended sessions of the First COPE Sub-Committee, which now looks at academic institutions. One reason however that one should not complain too much, is that for almost all the time spent inquiring of seven institutions in the two days,

I was the only person present apart from the Chairman. If our legislators do not care enough to try to ensure that students get value for the public money spent on them, I suppose we cannot really expect university administrators or lecturers to care either.

Ultimately we will only achieve accountability if we ensure that information is made available to all stakeholders, and they are given the right to question. Students should not be decision makers, but their views must be considered, and I have long argued that they should be given access to university accounts. When I first made this suggestion a decade back, the then Chairman of the UGC told me that they were accountable to Parliament, which I did not think adequate. Having seen how COPE functions – and it clearly does much more now under the Chairmanship of D E W Gunasekara than it has done for decades – I now know this is not adequate.

I was delighted that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Peradeniya also advocated this, perhaps because he too was in despair about what had been going on at the University. He and the new Registrar seem to be trying to set things to rights but, for the first time in looking at University accounts, it seemed to me that there were clear indications of fraud and corruption. Previously – with one institution attached to Colombo being an exception, about which the Vice-Chancellor agreed that crookedness seemed obvious – the worst we could be sure of was incompetence. Here clearly the incompetence, if that was all it was, was culpable. The idea that sub-standard furniture should be accepted because buildings had to be equipped in a hurry was for instance totally unacceptable. It must have been obvious to anyone, certainly including those waiting to place more orders, that beds which shook when they were received would soon collapse under student usage.

But as bad was the failure to ensure that students were actually taught. The schedule of lecture hours by all academic staff that COPE had had to ask for (since clearly no one with administrative authority had thought of this before) had not been looked at by the Peradeniya administration. We had to instruct the UGC Chairman to send the schedule to all universities, asking them to study it and send back a report on how they would ensure that lecturers actually did what they were supposed to do, and were held accountable for the public money they absorbed.

Sheer absurdity

The sheer absurdity of what many of our universities do became obvious to me during the last few weeks, during which I found Divisional Secretariats packed with graduates who have been recruited with no clear understanding of what they were supposed to do. Some of them had given up proper jobs because of the government indulgence they greedily grasped, but I suppose government thought it had no alternative since so many others were otherwise unemployable.

Sadly it has not occurred to any government that the obvious alternative is to make educational institutions target employability, with full accountability for their activities.

One bright young Divisional Secretary told me that, having tried to identify talents amongst those entrusted to him, so he could make gainful use of them, he found almost all without the capacity to work productively. He was a product himself of a Faculty that many years ago the Chairman of the UGC described as the cutting edge of the University system, and I could understand this, having realized his competence, as that of another Secretary from the same Faculty, one Tamil, one Sinhalese. But unless we try more intelligently to replicate this, we will simply be wasting public money.

 

NANO technology: SL lagging behind others

November 15, 2012, 10:13 pm , The Island

By Franklin R. Satyapalan

Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and President of Business Management School Dr. W. A. Wijewardena says successful Sri Lankan expatriates, in the fields of mathematics, chemistry and physics should be invited to return to the country to help re-build its human capital.

Elaborating on views he had expressed in a recent TV interview, Dr. Wijewardena told The Island in a brief interview yesterday that at present Sri Lanka did not have enough scientists and engineers to attend to its development needs. For, the Sri Lankan university system did not have any degrees in Bio-Medical Science to produce Bio–Medical Scientists.

 "The application of NANO technology is so widespread that it will encompass every aspect of human life in the future and those who have knowledge in NANO Technology are set to rule the world in the future," the retired Deputy Governor said.

He said that all students who wished to study Bio –Medical Science had to go overseas. But, on their return they did not have jobs. Therefore, they had to stay in other countries.

"Compared to world resources Sri Lanka does not have sufficient natural resources except for the human resource. There are only 20 million people. The major part of the Sri Lankan population is ageing and the population is expected to decline after 2030. It is high time mathematics, Physics and Chemistry were made compulsory for all students. Singapore could develop its economy as its focus had been on genetic engineering, NANO technology, Information and communication technology and entertainment."

 

University leadership training starts on Dec. 27

November 14, 2012, 10:40 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The much-delayed leadership training programme for the next batch of university entrants would start on Dec. 27 at 25 centres countrywide, Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said.

He told The Island that the duration of the programme had to be reduced from three weeks to two due to an additional 5,000 students being added to the next intake on a Court order.

This year the leadership training programme had to be postponed twice, in May and November, due to university teachers demanding that it be delayed until they submitted their recommendations.

Dr. Navaratne said that the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) had finally informed them that they would submit their proposals from next year and this time the programme could go as scheduled.

"We planned to start this year’s leadership training programme in three batches consisting of 9,000 students each," Dr. Navaratne said.

He added that this time 26,721 students would undergo the leadership training programme in military and police establishments countrywide from Dec. 27 to Jan. 13.

According to Dr. Navaratne, there was an increase of 5,609 students over that of the previous year.

The Secretary said that they had submitted a detailed report on the leadership training programme to the Vice Chancellors and Faculty Boards of universities countrywide and obtained their opinion.

"We made several changes in this year’s programme according to the comments of VCs," Dr. Navaratne said.

Competition or Monopoly in Education?

November 13, 2012, 4:42 pm , The Island


By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

There is considerable opposition from the university students as well as university teachers to the establishment of national or international private universities in Sri Lanka. The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) are at the forefront of this opposition. This opposition is based on the false pretence that such private universities would erode the so-called "free education" in Sri Lanka. The hearts and minds battle against and for private universities, in my view, is a battle for and against monopoly in education.

As we have argued in the previous think piece titled The Myth of Free Education, the so-called "free education" (free health as well) in Sri Lanka remains only metaphorically and not literally. Behind the contrived threat to free education remains chilling insecurity of university students and teachers who detest competition to their future or current professions and jobs resulting from potentially better quality student output from the private universities. We could discern this fear psychosis from the fact that students passing-out of private (English-medium) international schools in Sri Lanka are legally barred admission to public-funded universities or higher education colleges (such as the Sri Lanka Law College) or to public sector employment (such as the Sri Lanka Administrative, Foreign, or Planning Services, for example), which has not elicited protest from university students or university teachers.

The paranoia against students of international schools (beginning with the agitation against the erstwhile North Colombo Medical College during the 1980s) is part of the much larger POLITICS OF ENVY towards citizens who are entrepreneurial, independent (of public ‘free’ hand-outs), and upwardly mobile. According to this politics of envy, only the students passing-out of public schools and graduating from public universities are ‘bhumiputras’ (daughters and sons of the soil) and "patriots" who deserve the patronage and privileges of the state. This is also part of the political narrative of the Rajapaksa regime itself typified by the anti-Western and anti-UN (occasionally anti-Indian, as well) hysteria whipped-up regularly for parochial political gains. Ironically, while the University Grants Commission (UGC) has been eager to recruit a handful of students from overseas to some of the universities in Sri Lanka in the past couple of years, hitherto it has not even considered permitting students from international schools to the local universities. Why is this duplicity?

Nonetheless, many academics, senior bureaucrats, politicians (of all political persuasions including the new left, old left, and Islamist), and trade unionists send their children to private English medium international schools and/or foreign universities or misappropriate some of the foreign scholarships available to the country for their own children or next-of-kin thereby overriding fairness and merit. The foregoing examples are indications of lack of confidence in the public schools and universities among the pseudo champions of free education.

It is true that education in Sri Lanka, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, is chronically under-funded. However, additional public (state) funding is not the appropriate way to enhance the quality of education at all levels because such public funding will only perpetuate the insular, lethargic, and deliberate dumping-down of quality at schools in order to increase the school and university teachers’ earnings in private tutories. Since university teachers are the ones who set the question papers for the G.C.E. A/L examinations and evaluate answer scripts they have a captive market in the private tutories throughout the country. If the FUTA and IUSF are altruistic about protecting free education by increasing public funding to schools and tertiary educational institutions they should also campaign for the abolishment of private tutories because most of the tutories are fleecing innocent students and their parents. Therefore, desperately needed additional investments in the education sector should come from the private sector and NOT the public sector in order to improve the quality of education.

Many people argue that the government should clamp down on corruption (which drains public finances) and wasteful public expenditures and investments (such as the huge and rising defence budget, the Hambantota air and sea ports, Mihin Air, etc) and commit that money for public education and public heath, inter alia. I do agree that there is rampant corruption and astronomical wasteful expenditures by the Rajapaksa government and those have to be tamed. However, the call for stamping out corruption and wasteful public expenditures in order to commit more public money for public education and public health is a negative argument; one wrong cannot justify another. Instead, the champions of free education should convince the general public by positively arguing how and why enhanced public expenditures on education will improve the quality of primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Sri Lanka.

In my view, the policy debate on the admission of private universities in the country should not be framed in terms of preservation/protection versus dilution of free education; instead it should be framed in terms of competition versus monopoly for increasing the accessibility to prospective students and at the same time improving the quality of university education.

Competition was the bedrock of human civilization according to the Darwinian Theory of human evolution. Of course, not everyone on earth may agree with Charles Darwin’s theory of human evolution. Monopoly, either private or state, is detrimental to human welfare according to the fundamentals of economic science. According to a Tamil dictum keerai kadaikum aethir kadai vendum (even a shop selling green leaves need a competitor). In political principle and practice state monopoly is inherently anti-democratic that would lead to autocracy.

The state monopoly in education in Sri Lanka has dumped down the quality of primary, secondary, and tertiary education in the post-independence period. In fact, the admission of private hospitals in Sri Lanka since the late 1970s has improved the quality of free public health service throughout the country because of greater choice that has diminished the pressure on free public health service. In the same way, I believe that the admission of private universities could improve the quality of public universities as a result of competition for student admissions that would diminish the pressure on non-fee-levying public universities.

In the present circumstances, state monopoly is synonymous with monopoly of the Rajapaksa family. How come those who oppose monopoly of political power by the Rajapaksa family champion the cause of state monopoly in education (and indeed in other sectors as well)?

Muttukrishna Sarvananthan Ph.D. (Wales), M.Sc. (Bristol), M.Sc. (Salford), B.A. (Hons) (Delhi) hails from Point Pedro, Northern Sri Lanka, and a Development Economist by profession and the Principal Researcher of the Point Pedro Institute of Development (PPID). He has been an Endeavour Research Fellow at the Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at the George Washington University (Washington D.C, USA.) as well. He can be contacted at sarvi@pointpedro.org

Teachers, principals to strike on Dec. 04

November 13, 2012, 10:03 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Principals and teachers of government schools yesterday announced that they would stage a token strike on Dec. 04 if the education ministry failed to grant their demands immediately.

Spokesman for the Principals and Teachers Trade Union Joint Committee Mahinda Jayasinghe said that they had taken the decision to strike at a special convention held at the Public Library in Colombo with the participation of teachers and principals countrywide. "The Education Ministry invited us to a discussion on the eve of our convention," he said.

Jayasinghe said that they would participate in the discussion on Nov. 16, but go ahead with scheduled trade union action if an acceptable solution was not given.

Principals and teachers marched to the Education Ministry on Oct. 22 to force authorities to grant their six demands, he said.

Their main demand, Jayasinghe said, was the implementation of the recommendations made by the Cabinet in 2008 to rectify anomalies in the salaries of principals and teachers.

He said that they also demanded immediate solutions to problems as regards their promotions and salary arrears, implementation of the national teachers’ transfer policy, allocation of funds for distress and property loans, allocation of six per cent of the GDP for education and an end to political interferences in the education sphere.

"We held two rounds of discussions with Deputy Education Minister Vijithamuni Zoysa, Education Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne and two additional secretaries during the last two months, but those discussions had ended inconclusively," Jayasinghe said.

Jayasinghe said that Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena had repeatedly denied them a hearing, but finally invited the alliance to a discussion in a bid to stop their trade union action.

Principals and teachers had expected solutions to their problems from Budget 2013, but in vain, he said.

When contacted for comment, Education Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne said, his ministry had invited the teachers to a meeting with the minister.

"We expect to arrive at a solution at the meeting," the Secretary said.

The Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Joint Committee, includes Ceylon Teachers’ Union, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union, Independent Teachers’ Union, All Ceylon United Teachers’ Union, National Education Employees Union, Common Education Professionals Union, All Ceylon Principals’ Union and Sri Lanka National Principals’ Union.

EDUCATION: WHERE ARE WE HEADING? ARE WE MISSING THE WOOD FOR THE TREES?

By Dr Uvais Ahmad, Dailymirror

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) has ended its three month old strike action ostensibly demanding higher salaries for the university teachers. How futile or otherwise this entire FUTA exercise had been will be debated for sometime by all stake-holders who were affected by this action. The spokesman for FUTA while announcing the calling off of the strike had said that it was done in order to ensure that the students are not affected adversely by their Trade Union action. Ironically he also went on to state that if the concerned authorities do not live up to the promises made at discussions held to resolve the issues which led to the strike, action will be taken to resume the struggle until a satisfactory solution is brought about.
The fact that universities in the country constitute a very important factor in the preparation and training of resources that are necessary for development, university teachers have to be cared for, and all inducements provided to get on with their undoubtedly daunting tasks in this age and time in order to deliver education efficiently. They need to be abreast of developments taking place around the world in their fields of specialty. This is absolutely necessary to ensure that their products will be able to face the modern day challenges in a technology driven world. The authorities should be sensitive to these needs. Every endeavour must be made to meet their legitimate demands so that they could carry on their unenviable tasks in a way that would prove useful to the country at large.

" Brain–drain has been a term quite in vogue from the time when our education system was able to produce talented intellectuals who found plenty of opportunities to make a significant contribution in various fields of human endeavour both in Sri Lanka and outside our country "

Brain–drain has been a term quite in vogue from the time when our education system was able to produce talented intellectuals who found plenty of opportunities to make a significant contribution in various fields of human endeavour both in Sri Lanka and outside our country. It is very well known that the best of our brains are now functioning with great acceptance and recognition in many parts of the world, not only in the western hemisphere but also across Asia and the Pacific right up to the Fiji islands and Tonga. Several of them had been eminent professors and lecturers and other highly distinguished people who once served in our own universities and other national establishments.



Quite a few of them went onto serve with distinction as international civil servants with the UN and other international Organizations. We are indeed proud that our intellectuals found international acclaim and brought immense honour to our nation, but it is absolutely necessary for the authorities in the country to ensure that we do not become the poorer by the exodus of brains which are necessary to bring about qualitative improvement in the delivery of education. This makes it incumbent on those in charge of education to accept the fact that since the university teachers constitute the cream of our intelligentsia saddled with the task of nurturing acutely needed resources to take the country forward, should be an adequately motivated lot. It should, however, be clearly understood that strike action in the education sector should as far as possible be avoided and all efforts taken to resolve outstanding issues through negotiation and compromise. This is especially because teachers are not only responsible to impart knowledge but also to instill values that would make children to grow as responsible and peaceful citizens.

The Mahinda Chinthanaya, which is by and large an expression of national priorities in respect of all activities that impart the country as a whole, declares in no uncertain terms the goal of making Sri Lanka the educational hub in the region. When I read about this a few years ago I was overwhelmed by the thought that we are on the right track and will be pursuing a realizable objective given the fact that we have had a splendid track record in the field of education ever since we received independence in 1948. It has to be noted that Singapore, Malaysia and India have also made steady progress in developing themselves as Centres of Excellence in the field of education.

It is pertinent to recall that when Lee Kwan Yew became head of the state of Singapore about 50 years ago, Singapore was only a small hamlet surrounded by sea and comprising of three ethnicities – Chinese, Malays and Tamils of Indian and Sri Lankan origin. Fishing was their main occupation. Except the sea they had no other resources to talk about. At that time Lee Kwan Yew held Sri Lanka (Ceylon at that time) as a role model and declared his intention to make Singapore another Ceylon. Today we find this futuristic and persevering statesman of Singapore had made this country the envy of entire Asia.

From the outset he relied upon the creation of an educated and informed citizenry. He targeted the schools as the starting point to impart a sound value based education to the new generation of Singaporeans who have subsequently given their shoulders for the development of their country. Lee Kwan Yew never relented until the country had a sound education system with committed teachers and an energetic student population driven by an urge to excel in their studies and serve their nation. It is indeed strange that now we may have to look at Singapore for inspiration to develop our own educational programmes.

" Unfortunately, when we consider the chaotic condition in which we find our education system at all levels from the pre-school to university, one cannot but wonder whether making Sri Lanka the regional educational hub is only a distant dream "

A large number of Sri Lankan students are undergoing higher studies in Singapore and Malaysia along with countries like Australia, U.K. and the United States of America. This is done by draining away valuable foreign exchange, a sizable portion of which had been earned by unskilled workers both men and women, sometimes under extremely trying and exacting circumstances. If the Mahinda Chinthanaya objective of making our country an educational hub in the region is to become a reality we should not only retain our students in the country but also entice a large number of foreign students to pursue their studies here.



Unfortunately, when we consider the chaotic condition in which we find our education system at all levels from the pre-school to university, one cannot but wonder whether making Sri Lanka the regional educational hub is only a distant dream.

Some of the events that have unfolded before us in recent times are indeed disturbing and unless measures are taken to arrest such trends our children will face a bleak future.  

• Teacher pupil ratio has become staggeringly high especially, in the smaller classrooms making it virtually impossible for teachers to provide individuals attention to students.
• Prolonged and enforced delays are experienced in the correction of answer scripts.
• Question papers set by the concerned authorities for the terminal examinations are replete with errors.
• The university teachers supported by the university students went on strike and they are poised to strike again.
• Evaluation criteria are found faulty.
• Discipline in schools leave much to be desired.
• Tuition has become a must for most of the students from primary to G.C.E A/L classes. It is also a fact that most teachers depend on private tuition to augment their small salaries to make ends meet at a time where the cost of living is rising by the day. It has also to be noted that some teachers reserve their energy during class hours in order to expend it at tuition classes. This is a dangerous trend and the authorities must find a way out of it by reviewing salaries of teachers and adopting strategies like performance based inducements.
• There is also a severe threat of Principals and teachers going on strike and taking to the streets demanding promotions and wage increases.  

This is certainly not a comfortable or attractive educational scenario for any country aspiring to become an educational hub in the region. It is an absolute necessity to first put our house in order, in respect of education in its entirety. We need to have a holistic approach to educational development. Although education has been compartmentalized into various segments like primary, junior, secondary, tertiary and university for the sake of convenience, we need to look at education as a whole and ensure that no weak links exist.  All those involved in education must bear in mind that a weak and disabled education system as we witness today cannot produce the right calibre or undergraduates to the universities and a discontented set of university academics cannot produce graduates of high calibre from the students who are not disciplined, irresponsible and ill-prepared when they enter the portals of high learning.

" This is certainly not a comfortable or attractive educational scenario for any country aspiring to become an educational hub in the region. It is an absolute necessity to first put our house in order, in respect of education in its entirety "

One of the eye catching slogans of the recent FUTA strike was the demand for a 6% increase of in budgetary allocation for education. This is a reasonable demand and would have won a lot of sympathy and support from the general public. Facilities in the universities for both teachers and students have to improve. Senior lecturers have to be supported financially to do their research work on a regular basis. They should have sufficient exposure in other developed countries through attendance at seminars and other educational conferences. The students too should be provided with facilities conducive for learning. Large allocation of funds are needed not only to improve the quality of education but also to effect improvements at all levels within the school system. But what happens to this demand for a higher allocation for education. A recent editorial in the Daily Mirror recently titled “Into the valley of death, marched the 6%” tells it all…

Shakespeare in his play Hamlet says “something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Those who critically examine the education system in the country cannot be faulted if they borrow a few words from Shakespeare and declare that “something is rotten in the state of education in this country”. It is this “something” that has to be identified and addressed. The sooner this is done the better.

The writer was a Principal of two leading colleges, Director of teacher education in the Ministry of Education and UNESO educational advisor for the Asia Pasific region

Science & Technology: What for?

November 12, 2012, 7:56 pm , The Island


By Dr.C.S. Weeraratna

World Science Day fell on Nov. 10. This article examines to what extent Science and Technology has been effectively used in Sri Lanka to alleviate poverty and to advance the socio-economic development of the country.

The Science and Technology status of a country is the backbone of its development strategy. Most of the South and South East Asian countries, during the last two decades, have developed considerably by effective use of Science and Technology. In Sri Lanka, during the last decade, perhaps billions have been spent on Research and Development (R&D) but, what were the benefits the country received from all the money spent?

The General President of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS), in the year 2005, in his inaugural address said, ‘What has bothered me over the years is the insignificant, almost negligible impact on economic, industrial and agricultural development that we have had from research that has been conducted over the past fifty years……." The president of the Sri Lanka Economic Association, at the SLEA annual meeting held last month, too highlighted the very low level of Science and Technology in Sri Lanka.

Scientific institutions

In Sri Lanka, there are around 30 institutions, in addition to the 14 universities, that carry out research on various aspects related to socio-economic development. The National Science Foundation (NSF), the Council for Agricultural Research Policy (CARP) and National Research Council (NRC) are expected to promote research. According to NSF data, in 2008, there were nearly 4000 scientists in Sri Lanka , 1025 in Natural Sciences, 939 in Agricultural Sciences, 927 in Engineering, 768 in Medical and 111 in Social Sciences. Almost 61% of the scientists are in universities. Out of the 4,000 scientists around 2200 have postgraduate qualifications.

NSF during 1995-2000, funded 217 research projects involving a sum of Rs. 102 millions. The details of the research projects funded by NSF since 2000 are not available .Council for Agricultural Research Policy (CARP), since its inception in 1988 to 2005, has funded about 500 projects related to agriculture, fisheries and animal husbandry, involving around Rs. 550 million. There is hardly any information available on the expenditure by NSC in promoting research. A large number of papers are presented by our scientists at numerous seminars, symposia etc. For example, during the period 2004-2008, around 1,100 papers were presented at the SLASS annual sessions. However, in spite of all these organizations and qualified scientists, Science & Technology appears to have not played a significant role in the socio-economic development of the country.

Many in S&T institutions lament that the expenditure on S&T is very low. They are of the view that a higher % of the GDP needs to be spent on development of Science and Technology. This is very true, but it is also important that the money spent is utilized properly. Various institutions spend large sums of money to purchase very expensive equipment but little is used. We do not have a centralized scientific equipment repair centre. As a result, research equipment bought at high costs is not used, may be for want of a simple repair.

In 2004, National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka held a workshop titled ‘Impediments to Science and Technology in Sri Lanka’. In the paper on "Science and Technology Development in South and Southeast Asia - A Review" presented by Dr.K.A. de Alwis, (the present President of National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka ), at this workshop highlighted a number of reasons for poor performance of S&T in Sri Lanka.

Challenges

The socio=economic problems and the challenges which we face in Sri Lanka are many, and have increased considerably during the last decade. For example, the trade deficit which was Rs. 588 billion in 2010 has almost doubled to Rs 910 billion in 2011. It is estimated that this will exceed Rs. 1,000 billion in 2012. High trade deficit is one of the factors contributing to increasing govt. debt which stands at around Rs. 6,000 billion.

A major problem we are facing is the fuel crisis. The cost of importing petroleum in 2009 was around Rs 300 billion. In 2012, it is likely to be Rs. 600 billion. A high expenditure on petroleum will widen our annual trade deficit. There have to be short, medium and long term plans to overcome the issues related to fuel crisis. The Ministry of Finance and Planning and other relevant organizations, such as, the Ministry of Power and Energy, need to formulate a plan, in consultation with relevant scientists to mitigate the increase in expenditure on fuel imports. There are similar issues which warrant the involvement of scientists and technologists.

Relevant research

The primary objective of use of Science and Technology in a developing country, such as Sri Lanka, must be the conduct of appropriate studies on critical issues and advice the authorities on relevant action to be taken. Science and Technology needs to be used to utilize locally available resources. The research efforts need to be directed more towards those aspects, which have a direct impact on the socio-economy of the country.

Vidya Jyothi Late Dr Ray Wijewardene, former Chancellor of Moratuwa University, in his presentation at the workshop on " Impediments to Science and Technology in Sri Lanka" organized by the NASSL, said, " I must admit that our scientists in Sri Lanka have failed to take a lead in helping exploit the vast resources with which this country is blessed…  and not only to the extent of ‘ writing a paper’  for some foreign journal… or publishing pious recommendations; but ensuring that their research is both socially and financially sound in the context of this (their) country."

The organizations which are involved in scientific research have the responsibilities to promote research that is needed by the country. This is why the Minister of Science & Technology, in his message to the 62nd Annual Sessions of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science said that. " the research effort should place more emphasis on development. Relevant research is critical for development and has a positive impact on the other development processes.

Last year, NSF very correctly initiated National Thematic Research Programme (NTRP), where the themes are decided as per the national priorities. The NSF identified ‘Energy Security’, ‘Food Security’, ‘Water Security’ and ‘Climate Change’ as the priority areas to start with under the NTRP. This programme is expected to promote research, the results of which can be harnessed for national development. Up to now the NTRP has not got off the ground.

Socio-economic development depends on a number of factors, among which is availability of appropriate technologies. The technologies developed by research need to be effectively utilized/ commercialized, for which investments have to made. Institutions, such as, Ministry of Industries, the Board of Investments etc. need to coordinate with the scientific organizations to attract investments on commercialization of proven technologies.

In fact, one of the proposals of Mahinda Chintanaya in relation to Science and Technology (Chapter 12 of Mahinda Chintanaya : Vision for News Sri Lanka) is to recognize the key role of Science and Technology as an important and essential item in national development by carrying out a number of activities such as:

a. Establishing Inter-Ministerial Co-ordination Committees

b. Including scientific and technological planning in the ministerial, sectoral and national level plans of the country

c. Integrating scientific and technological planning into the national level plans of the country and

d. Involving scientists and technologists in all relevant sectors

The National Science and Technology Policy (NSTP) of 2008, too emphasizes application of Science and Technology for national development. Among the 10 objectives of NSTP, one was to enhance Science and Technology capability for national development by making use of Science and Technology expertise in the national

planning process, and strengthening governance and policy implementation mechanisms. One of the strategies to achieve this objective was to include scientists and technologists in the formulation of national development policies and plans, review strategies, legislation in decision-making and implementation, at the national and provincial levels, properly utilizing relevant scientific data. The proposed main agencies for implementation of strategies/initiatives in relation to this objective are Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance and Planning , NSF, NRC, CARP, University Grants Commission, SLAAS and NASTEC. Three years have passed since this NSTP was brought to light, but no action appears to have been taken by any of the organizations indicated. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) should give leadership in implementing this strategy.

A few years ago, when current Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa was the Minister of Agriculture, an advisory council consisting of a number of scientists was established. The scientists who were in this council made several recommendation towards development of the agricultural sector. These recommendations were brought to the notice of the present Minister of Agriculture, but no action appears to have been taken to implement these recommendations.

Role of institutions

To make use of Science and Technology effectively, it is important that the private sector interacts with the scientists/technologists to improve their output quantitatively and qualitatively and also to reduce their COP. It is also necessary that scientific organizations in the country play appropriate roles. Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) has around 4,000 members representing a number of scientific fields, such as, Medical, Dental and Veterinary Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Forestry, Engineering, Architecture and Surveying, Life & Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences and Social Sciences. National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka (NASSL) has around 125 scientists who have achieved excellence in their respective scientific / technological fields. One of the objectives of NASSL is to act as a consultative body to the government of Sri Lanka on all matters and activities related to the application of Science and Technology in national development. There are many other professional associations which could play a prominent role in making Science & Technology beneficial to the country.

It is also important that the chairmen/ directors of the numerous government research/technological organizations are scientists qualified in the respective fields. We have a number of research related organizations, such as, CARP, Agrarian Research & Training Institute, Institute for Post Harvest Technology, Rubber Research Institute manned by non-scientists. According to the Sugarcane Research Act, the minister responsible for the Sugarcane Research Institute should nominate three eminent scientists to the board. But, the minister’s nominees are not eminent scientists, making the SRI Board illegal.

It is up to the Secretaries of ministries, chairmen of Boards and other institutions to make use of the human resources available in the country in the formulation of national development policies and plans, review strategies, legislation, and in decision-making and implementation, at the national and provincial levels, as proposed in Mahinda Chintanaya. The Advisor on Science Technology to the President, and the Minster of Science & Technology, need to take the lead in getting the scientists / technologists involved in the formulation and implementation of development plans, if Sri Lanka is going to be the Miracle of Asia.

csweera@sltnet.lk

Former financial fiddler playing budgetary blues

5th Column

the SUNDAYTIMES

My dear PBJ,
I thought I should write to you to congratulate you on this year’s budget because we know that you are responsible for it even though Mahinda maama read it out in Parliament. Ah, what a change of fortunes it has been for you!

It was only a few years ago that you gave an undertaking to the courts that you would not be holding public office again but here you are presiding over the fiscal fortunes of our country while those who judged you are now themselves being hounded!

Anyway, it must have been quite a difficult task for you to prepare a budget at a time when everyone is asking for a pay hike and all we see are hundreds of ministers going about in flashy cars surrounded by bodyguards-but you seem to have pulled it off!

I suppose the highlight of your budget was the one thousand five hundred rupee salary increase you gave public servants. Considering today’s prices, one thousand five hundred rupees will buy people at least twenty five loaves of bread, so I suppose that is a very substantial increase!

You haven’t forgotten pensioners either because you have increased their allowances by five hundred rupees a month. That would have gone a long way if they were allowed to buy goods at prices that were prevailing before they retired but I’m sure they will still be grateful to you.

I notice, PB, that you have also increased the tax on liquor and that shows how concerned you are about our health although some people would argue that more liquor is needed to drown our sorrows these days!
I see that you have allocated four billion rupees to enroll an additional 5000 students to universities because of the mistakes of Bandula and SB. You know, you could have recovered that through monthly deductions from what they earn-and it wouldn’t have taken long to recover that amount!

You have also raised taxes on vehicle imports. I am sure what you are trying to do is encourage our own car makers to realize their true potential instead of allowing Japanese and Indian cars to flood our market and that is a noble intention.

However, because we don’t really have a car of our own what will happen is that all cars will become more expensive and fewer people will be able to afford cars now. But then, who knows, that might spur someone to make a car of our own-and they could call it the ‘Mihindu’ or some such name!

What is most praiseworthy is your decision to reduce taxes on racing cars and go-karts, PB. That was simply a stroke of genius that only you could think of and I am sure it made a lot of people extremely happy-and that is the type of budget proposal which will keep you in employment for years to come!
Just imagine how this proposal would transform our transport sector: because ordinary cars are more expensive, more and more people will now buy go-karts and racing cars and what is more, because everyone will be using racing cars, we will get to our destinations even faster!

Of course, PBJ, you could have gone one step further and scored a few more brownie points if you had reduced duties on spacecraft for would-be astronauts and also reduced taxes on imported racehorses for racing enthusiasts, but unfortunately you seem to have missed out on that one!

You have also increased taxes on casinos, PB, in an attempt to raise revenue. Now if you had imposed a new tax on individuals who go to nightclubs and casinos and get into brawls that would have really helped you generate some extra money!

It was also a smart move to increase the allowances granted to judges, university academics and doctors. We know what a lot of bother judges are causing these days and both university academics and doctors strike at the drop of a hat-so it was good thinking to pacify them.

Now, with you being an old hand at budget tricks, you haven’t told them how much of an increase they would be getting. So, when they start complaining and staging protest marches a few months later, you could give them a tiny pay hike and always tell them that you kept your promises!

You must also be congratulated, PB, for your proposal to give a free pair of shoes to schoolchildren. Now we give our children free education, free uniforms, and free shoes-so I am sure the entire crisis in education will be settled by next year and all tuition masters will go out of business!

And anyway, it is a good idea to give schoolchildren a free pair of shoes because the pair of shoes they already own would be worn out by having to wait longer for ‘A’ level results and then having to trudge to the courts to get their results authorized.

So, PB, you have done your job well. And needless to say, it will be passed by those sitting near the Diyawanna Oya because these days anything that is presented there gets passed without a whimper, no matter what its impact on the country is. We will see more of that in the coming weeks, I guess.

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha

PS-You must have felt like the race horse watching the jockey being handed the cup for winning the race when you saw Mahinda maama doing the honours and getting all the applause last week. But you can’t complain, because, if not for Mahinda maama, you would still be languishing in retirement, wouldn’t you?

Honour pledges or face consequences, dons tell govt.

November 9, 2012, 10:28 pm , The Island


The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) yesterday urged the government to honour the agreements reached consequent to negotiations between FUTA and the government or face the consequences.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, in a letter to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, dated Nov. 7, accused the government of failing to honour the agreements, though FUTA had suspended trade union action on Oct. 12. The FUTA chief sought a clarification from Minister Rajapaksa as regards the status of the implementation of the agreements.

Full text of Dr. Dewasiri’s letter: "As you know, the FUTA’s decision to suspend its trade union action from Oct 12 was made in good faith and was based on several agreements reached during the negotiations conducted with government officials, including yourself and the Treasury. These agreements were communicated through:

1. The note to the Cabinet and the Cabinet decisions taken on 29th September 2012 Matters pertaining to Education and Higher Education.

2. A letter dated, 9th October 2012 from the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

3. Letter dated 10th October 2012 from the secretary to the ministry of higher education regarding payment of unpaid salaries for the period of the trade union action.

4. Letter dated 10th October 2012, from the. Minister of Higher Education, pledging to refrain from taking any punitive action against University academics who took part in the trade union action.

5. The joint Press Statement between the government and the FUTA issued on 12th October 2012.

However, it is with grave concern that we note the following:

1. The validity and the very existence of the joint statement have been questioned by sections of the government and several Vice-Chancellors. Several Vice Chancellors have stated that they are unaware of such an agreement and therefore are not bound to adhere to any agreements (such as the agreement to conduct a special senate and a meeting with all academics).

2. The agreement that circulars named by the FUTA would be rescinded as soon as academics return to work has not been honoured. Instead, a committee has been appointed by the UGC to look into this matter. This action by the UGC is a total violation of the agreement between the government and the FUTA.

3. Academics have not been paid their salaries in full for July, August and September 2012 as promised by the aforesaid letter by the minister of higher education. For example, allowances and salaries of several heads of department’s and academics who had held acting posts are yet to be paid.

Under these circumstances, we are compelled to question the sincerity of the government in honouring its publicly made commitments to FUTA at the time of suspension of the trade union action. Thus, we kindly request you to clarify the status of the implementation of the said agreements and the validity of the documents referred above that express the government’s commitment.

We would also like to point out that we are closely monitoring the situation and that weare very disappointed and disturbed with the government’s apparent lack of sincerity. Thus, the FUTA will be compelled to review its decision to suspend trade union action in the weeks to come unless there is progress from the side of the government with regard to implementing the agreements it reached during the negotiations with the FUTA.

I kindly request you to look into these concerns in order to avoid unnecessary consequences.

Dons, docs studying the budget

November 8, 2012, 10:56 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

University teachers, who sought a pay hike from the budget, yesterday said they could not comment on the academic allowance increment, proposed by President Rajapaksa, until they study it at length.

President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told The Island that President Rajapaksa had promised an increment in the allowance for university teachers, doctors and judges within affordable limits.

Dr. Dewasiri said that they were still to know what the amount of the increase was and it was still too early to comment on it.

President Rajapaksa also promised a 15 per cent increase in expenditure on education and had now set aside 4.1 per cent of the GDP for it against their demand to allocate 6 per cent of GDP for education, Dr. Dewasiri said.

The senior academic said that they did not know how the government’s figure had been calculated.

"Currently, only 1.9 per cent of the GDP is allocated for education according to our calculations," Dr. Dewasiri said, adding that government’s calculations were different.

Meanwhile, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said they needed time to analyse the budget.

GMOA spokesman Dr. Naveen Zoysa said that their membership expected much relief from the budget.

"Our executive committee will analyse the budget during this weekend," he said, adding they would announce their decision by Monday.

Budget geared for growth

The Island

* Rs. 1,500 for public workers

* Rs. 5,000 for July strikers over 65 yrs

* Rs. 1 bn for drought relief

* Free education to be protected

* Expected growth rate 7.5 %

* Projected budget deficit 5.8 %

* Expenditure on education up by 15%

* Rs. 500 for senior citizens

*  Rs. 750 and Rs. 500 for pensioners

* Tax exemptions for racing cars

* Allowances for judges, dons, docs et al revised

November 8, 2012, 12:00 pm

By Saman Indrajith

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, presenting his government’s eighth consecutive budget in Parliament yesterday, offered a 1,500-rupee monthly allowance for each state sector employee, Rs. 1,000 million to ease the burden of drought battered farmers, a 5,000-rupee monthly allowance for the July strikers over 65 years of age and an import tax exemption for racing cars.

He invited Opposition parties to cooperate with the government to solve problems confronted by the people.

Summarising the macro-economic vision of his government for the next two years, the President said that budget 2013 had been framed to ensure that the economy would bounce back at an average growth rate of 7.5 percent next year and eight percent thereafter.

"The underlying fiscal strategy will contribute to a budget deficit of 5.8 percent in 2013 and move towards a deficit of 4.5 percent by 2015, with public debt below 75 per cent of the GDP," President Rajapaksa said.

"I assure children and parents of this nation, through this August assembly, that this government under no circumstance will compromise its commitment to deepen the scope of free education."

Against this backdrop, the President said that the expenditure on education would be increased by 15 percent in 2013.

He proposed to exempt businesses having an annual turnover less than Rs. 12 million from the Nation Building Tax and Value Added Tax with effect from January 2013.

"I propose to raise the Airport Tax by US$ 10 and the Online Visa Fee by US $ 5 from January 2013. I also propose to update several administrative fees and charges which have not been updated for several years. I also propose to introduce amendments to the Finance Act requiring all regulatory agencies and government departments to transfer revenue in excess of the required establishment expenditure and a three month working capital requirement, to the Consolidated Fund, once in three months. "I propose to increase duties by 10-20 percent on all vehicles imported under concessional schemes," he said.

"I propose to allocate Rs. 300 million annually to grant a monthly living allowance of Rs 5,000 to July strikers who complete 65 years of age on January 1, 2013.

"I propose to increase the allowances given to public sector servants by a minimum of Rs 1,500 per month from next year. A Cost of Living allowance of Rs. 750 per month will be paid from January to all public servants. The balance will be provided by granting a further five percent of the basic salary subject to minimum of Rs 750 and a maximum of Rs 2,500 as an additional allowance, to all public servants. I propose to grant 50 percent of the proposed 5 percent increase from May 2013 and the balance from September. All those in staff categories will be given 50 percent from July and the balance from October 2013. I also propose to revise the service related allowances formulated for judges, university academic staff, medical practitioners, and specialised categories, recognising their special role within the affordable limits in the budget and capacity to sustain them over the medium term and grant 50 percent of the increase from January 2013 and the balance from July."

It is also proposed to increase the registration fees on betting businesses to Rs. 2 million and on gaming activities to Rs 100 million. "I also propose to impose a 5 percent tax on the turnover of a gaming business," he said.

In order to provide some relief to retired public servants, the President said it was proposed to grant a special allowance of Rs 750 per month to those who retired before 2004, and Rs 500 per month to those who retired from 2005 to 2006. "I propose to grant 50 percent of this increase from January 2013 and the balance from July 2013. I also propose to increase the cost of living allowance to all pensioners by Rs 500 per month from January 2013."

He proposed an allocation of Rs 200 million to finance the continuance of the interest free loan scheme for media personnel and artistes.

The second reading on the Appropriation Bill will commence today (9) and will continue until November 17 (seven allotted days). The second reading vote will be taken at 6.00 p.m. on November 17. The committee stage debate will begin on November 19 and continue until December 8 (16 allotted days). The third reading vote will be taken on December 8.