Wednesday, February 8, 2012

UGC blames JVP for deteriorating university system


UGC blames JVP for deteriorating university system

 

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by Dasun Edirisinghe

The University Grants Commission yesterday blamed the JVP for the deteriorating situation in the university system and the massive disruptions of the academic calendar.

UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said that the JVP rebel group currently controls university student unions according to their cheap political agenda.

"Their political agenda is to create indiscipline in universities," he said.

Prof. Samaranayake was answering the findings of a recent survey that the quality of university education was fast deteriorating due to politicization, indiscipline and lack of modern technologies and facilities. The survey was conducted by the Department of Manpower and Employment of the Ministry of Productivity Promotion.

He accepted two points of the survey and denied that there was a lack of state of arts facilities in Sri Lankan universities.

"During the 1987 – ‘89 period the JVP created a violent situation in universities. It led to a nearly 2-year closure of Sri Lankan universities," said Prof. Samaranayake.

The senior academic said that there was a belief that university ragging would come to an end after the ‘87 – ‘89 period, but the JVP-led students resorted to the tactics which the police used to harass them, when ragging freshers.

According to Prof. Samaranayake, the present tuition culture during the GCE (A/L) period also led to indiscipline in the universities.

"Currently, students mostly depend on the tuition classes to prepare for the A/L examination," he said adding that it was producing half baked students who lack discipline.

He said that politics was needed in universities but the problem was the level of politicization to which the JVP led student unions.

"Most of students have leftist ideas," Prof. Samaranayake said adding that that was the reason for most undergraduates to be trapped in the JVP’s underground political struggle.

The UGC Chairman said that the JVP’s politics would not produce politicians for the mainstream politics, but against mainstream politics.

There are lots of politicians such as Prof. G. L. Peiris, present Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake, Mahinda Wijesekara, Rajitha Senaratne, Piyasena Gamage, Ranil Wickremesinghe who were involved in university politics, Prof. Samaranayake said adding that today’s JVP politics wasn’t able to create such figures.

He said that introducing new technology to the university system cannot be done overnight.

"We are in a process of increasing state of the art technologies in the Sri Lankan university system," Prof. Samaranayake said.