Admin and financial irregularities hamper Eastern Uni activities

Monday, 30 January 2012 18:15, Dailymirror

Administrative irregularities and financial misappropriations have hampered the activities of the Eastern University for years, officials said today.

Prof. Ranjith Arthanayake, who acted as the Competent Authority of the University for 11 months, told the Daily Mirror today that he was able to identify a number of cases. However, he declined to give specific details about them to the media at this hour.

“I was appointed by the Minister. It is unethical for me to give specific details about it,” he said.

He said that there were irregularities in administration, financial management and academic activities at the university located in Vantharamulai, Batticaloa.

Asked how long the situation had prevailed, he said that it had been around for the past 30 years.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that measures had been taken to correct the situation at the university. He said that a new vice chancellor would be appointed to the university very soon.

“Three names have  been sent to the President. Only the President has the authority to pick one of them as the vice chancellor,” he said.

The university was affected by the war. In 2004, one lecturer of the university was gunned down by an identified gang. The then Vice Chancellor Prof. S. Ravindranath was abducted in 2006 and so far what happened to him remains a mystery. Subsequently, a large number of lecturers of the university left the country as their lives were at risk. (Kelum Bandara)

A/L crisis goes to Supreme Court

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 02:22, Dailymirror

Sixteen GCE Advanced Level Students and the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) yesterday filed fundamental rights violation petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the formula applied on the 2011 GCE Advanced Level Examination to calculate the Z-score.

The petitioners said the erroneous and unjustifiable application of the formula had caused a gross distortion of the examination results.
Examinations Commissioner General W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardene, Peradeniya University R.O. Thattiland and the Attorney General were cited as respondents.

The petitioners alleged that their fundamental rights to equality and equal protection of the law had been violated and sought court to declare null and void the August 2011 GCE Advanced Level results and the Z-scores.

They are asking the court to direct that the Z-Scores of the candidates be calculated according to the accepted statistical norms and principles, and to calculate the Z-score of a subject on the premise that the new syllabus and the old syllabus are separate from each other.

They are also asking the court to direct the respondents to reissue the results to all the candidates after correcting the errors as regards the Z-Score and other shortcomings.

The petitioners are seeking the court to make an appropriate interim order suspending any further step with regard to university admission, until the final determination of this application.

They are asking court to make an order calling for all the documentation, records and reports pertaining to the calculation of the Z-score contained in the official results of the GCE Advanced Level Examination released on December 30 and to award compensation to the petitioners as determined by the court.

They said until 1999, the selection of students for admission to universities and other higher educational institutions were based on the aggregate marks obtained by the candidates at the GCE Advanced Level Examination.

During this period, every subject stream, namely Biological Science, Mathematics, Commerce and Arts contained four (4) subjects and therefore, a candidate had to sit for four (4) separate question papers.

However, with the introduction of new educational reforms, the number of subjects relevant to a subject stream of the GCE Advanced Level Examination was reduced to three (3) from year 2000. Accordingly, a candidate was required to sit for three (3) question papers thenceforth, in addition to a Common General Test which all the candidates were expected to get through. (S.S. Selvanayagam)

FUTA vows to take action

Monday, 30 January 2012 21:26, Dailymirror

The Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) today vowed to do everything possible to prevent the private universities bill from proceeding if it is presented to Parliament without consulting all stakeholders in the higher education sector.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake and other government officials had discussions with FUTA recently where it was unanimously decided that the Ministry, University Grants Commission, university teachers, students and other relevant parties would hold discussions on the matter before the matter before the Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Qualification Frame Bill was brought to parliament.

FUTA President Nirmal Dewasiri said during the union’s Annual General Meeting last week it was found that there was a possibility that the bill would be introduced to parliament shortly. “We asked for constitutional amendments to be made and they agreed to it. We see this as a violation of the agreement that was reached last week,” Dewasiri said.

“If the reports are true then we will do our best to stop it. We will take maximum action,” he said. Discussions are currently underway between FUTA and Ministry officials on the when the discussions should begin. (Olindhi Jayasundere)