University dons signal restart of agitation

February 27, 2013, 10:25 pm 


By Dasun Edirisinghe

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri addresses yesterday’s media briefing at the Colombo University. He is flanked by FUTA Assistant Secretary Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Vice President of the Open University Teachers’ Association B. D. Witharana . Pic by Nimal Dayaratne

University teachers yesterday warned that they would have to resume their agitation for more funds for the education sector, claiming that the entire sector was in a mess.

 Addressing a media briefing at the Colombo University, President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said that they would hold a massive public rally in Colombo, on April 02, as the first step towards preparung the general public for a common battle to protect the free education system.

 He said that their main demand, when launching last year’s strike, was for the allocation of six per cent of the GDP for education and it still remained. FUTA had already started to make university teachers aware about re-starting the agitation, he aded.

 "A recent incident where a schoolgirl in Horana was charged with stealing eight coconuts, reportedly to pay her contribution towards colour washing of her school, was a clear example of the present crisis in the education sector,"

Dr. Dewasiri said.

He said that while that incident exposed the cruelties of an ineffective juvenile justice system, it also laid bare the stark reality of ‘free education’ in the country.

 As the FUTA had repeatedly pointed out, the state was gradually disowning its responsibility in providing the service of education and is asking children and families to accept the burden, Dr. Dewasiri said.

 He said schools routinely collected funds from parents for school expenses through school development committees and other means.

 "We demanded an increase in funding for state education, but the government increased ministers of education instead," Dr. Dewasiri said.

 He said the government failed to allocate 6% of the GDP to education but a huge portion of funds would go to maintain the newly appointed minister and his staff. 

The senior academic said that they could estimate the government’s attention to the education sector by the person who was appointed as the new education service minister.  

 For people and events

An exhibition of Catholic Eucharistic Miracles will be launched from St Lucis’s Cathedral with the participation of Rt Rev Dr.Emmanuel Fernando, Auxilliary Bishop of Colombo at 9.30 am on March 1.

 Courtesy: The Island 28/02/2013

What ails higher education in Sri Lanka?

February 22, 2013, 10:00 pm , The Island

Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, Principal Researcher, Point Pedro Institute of Development will deliver a lecture on "What Ails Higher Education in Sri Lanka?" at the ICES Auditorium, 2, Kynsey Terrace Colombo 8 on Wednesday, February 27th at 4.00 p.m. Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, Head Department of History, University of Colombo and President, Federation of University Teachers’ Association will respond.

SB blames JVP for student leaders not completing degree courses

February 17, 2013, 10:07 pm , The Island


by Dasun Edirisinghe

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake yesterday blamed the JVP for the failure of student union leaders to complete their degree courses after 1985.

Responding to the JVP’s statements attacking him, the angry minister said that the JVP and its breakaway Frontline Socialist Party, were getting innocent undergraduates to carry forward their bankrupt political ideologies.

"After 1985, most of those who led the Inter University Students’ Federation and other JVP affiliated students’ unions in universities countrywide have not completed their degree courses," he said.

Dissanayake said a majority of them were from very rural areas and were obstructing other students from entering universities.

"We too were student leaders, when we were in the university, but all of us completed our degrees successfilly," the minister said.

Naming some now prominent figures, such as minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, Mahinda Wijesekera, Minister Reginold Cooray, Ministry Secretary Willie Gamage, former UGC Chief Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Prof. Navaratne Bandara of the Peradeniya University, Students Affairs Director of the Higher Education Ministry Keerthi Mawellage and former examination commissioner general Anura Edirisinghe, he said that they had also engaged in politics and student union activities in the university, but they completed their degree courses and now serve the country.

He said that JVP affiliated student leaders did not complete their degrees and sacrificed their higher education to fulfill an unrealistic dream of the bankrupt political party.

Nimal blames tuition mafia for commercialisation of education

February 17, 2013, 9:25 pm , The Island

BY DON ASOKAWIJEWARDENA

Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva claimed that the tuition mafia had totally commercialised the present educational system. Some teachers in government schools

Run off to tuition centres without attending to their school responsibilities, he said.

When a student passed an examination with distinction, the credit went to the teachers who taught the student. But there was no dispute over the fact that private tuition was necessary for a student who was weak in studies. If teachers had taught the students properly in all subjects, no private tuition would have been necessary, he said at the presentation of an award to Danuka Ravishan, who obtained the highest marks in mathematics, in the Badulla district, at the GCE A/L.

He pointed out that the people in the Uva province suffered from untold hardships during the imperialist rule. Everything was destroyed by them. Many young men over 18 were killed. After the Independence, not a single government had been able to develop the Uva province. The country’s poorest divisional secretariat called Redeemaliyadde was situated in the Badulla district, he said.

The people were under the impression that only the students attending Colombo schools could enter the universities, but even those studying at Badulla Dharamadutha had entered universities, Minister de Silva added.

He said that some fathers were enriching liquor bars. When their children failed the examinations, they kept blaming the teachers. The educational system should be job-oriented, because it was fundamental to the development of any nation, he said

President orders release of Jaffna Uni. students

February 12, 2013, 10:10 pm , the island


By Anura Balasuriya

 President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the release of two undergraduates of the Jaffna University who were being held in custody.

The President gave the order following a request made to him by the parents of the two students, when they met him at the Jaffna District Development Council meeting.

The parents complained that their children had been taken into custody two and a half months back and pleaded for their release.

President Rajapaksa said that the parents must be vigilant to what their children were doing and reminded them that it was their duty to direct their children to obtain a proper education.

Decision tomorrow on re-opening Moratuwa Uni. sections?

February 11, 2013, 10:42 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Vice Chancellor of the Moratuwa University, Prof. Ananda Jayawardena, yesterday said that they would decide

on the date of re-opening the Engineering Faculty and the Institute of Technology after the Faculty Board meets tomorrow (13).

He said the decision would be taken after studying the recommendations, of the Faculty Board, on the security situation.

"We held meetings with parents of the students last week," Prof. Jayawardena said adding that parents were made aware of the situation in the university and their ideas on the issue too were gathered.

The university administration also had several meetings with security officials, including the DIG Colombo South Range, to improve the security situation and prevent further clashes between the undergraduates and National Diploma in Technology (NDT) students, Prof. Jayawardena said.

The Engineering Faculty and Institute of Technology were closed indefinitely on Jan. 17 after a violent attack on the Engineering Faculty male hostel the previous night.

The Moratuwa police arrested four NDT students, in connection with the attack and one was released on bail while the others were remanded till Feb. 15 by the Mortatuwa Magistrate.

Prof. Jayawardena said now that the security situation had improved, they expected to commence the examinations for final year engineering undergraduates shortly.

Drop in science results

Dailymirror

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane, yesterday, faulted university  academics for what he described as ‘setting question papers outside the  scope of the science and math syllabuses’, for the last G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Examination. Mr. Gunawardane told Daily Mirror that both school and private candidates  had found it difficult to answer such questions, and eventually, it had led to  a drop in results.  He said that only around 40 percent of the students who  sat the examination in these two streams had passed. The minister stressed that questions should be set so that they would  be easy for students to fathom. The Education Ministry has already instructed the Department of Examinations to maintain open communication with question  paper setters, and instruct them to stick to the framework of the  syllabuses in future. “We have done this on the past two occasions. Yet the university  academics who set the papers have ignored it.  They have to be  mindful of the syllabuses and the number of periods allotted for  teaching them. Also, they should give mind to the textbooks,  model questions and answers available to students. In the commerce  stream, our instructions had been followed. Therefore as many as  72 percent of the students passed the examination this time,” said Mr. Gunawardane. Compared to international examinations, he said, Sri Lanka’s Ordinary  Level and Advanced Level Examinations are too advanced for the students. “We want to encourage students to choose science and math for their  Advanced Level studies.  Currently, only 21 percent of the students  choose these two streams. It should be increased to 40 percent.   The number opting for the commerce stream should be upped from  the present 27 percent to 35 percent. As many as 51 percent of students  select the arts stream,” he said. The Ven. Yalwela Pannasekara, the president of Sri Lanka  United Teachers’ Union said the quality of Sri Lanka’s examinations  was universally recognised, and, therefore, it was not advisable to  make the question papers easier.  “It will increase the number of students who pass the examination,  but the quality will be questionable,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)

‘Z – Score’ cut off marks released

February 10, 2013, 10:40 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The much delayed ‘Z–score’ cut–off marks, for admission of students to universities, based on the GCE (Advanced Level) examination 2011 results, were released online by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Saturday night.

Secretary of the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told The Island that the cut-off marks had been released on the UGC website www.ugc.ac.lk as it had already been delayed by one year.

Normally, in previous years, the ‘Z-score’ cut–off marks were released to the media first, Dr. Navaratne said.

University admissions, based on GCE (A/L) examination 2011, were delayed due to a Supreme Court order which stipulated that the Z-score rankings for old and new syllabi be prepared separately, following a petition filed by some students.According to the SC order, an additional 5,609 students should be admitted to universities and the total intake increased to 28,000 with those additional students.

Normally, the students were admitted to universities in October, but the new intake could be admitted only by the end of March, Dr. Navaratne said.

He said that the third batch of leadership training programme would commence tomorrow. Two batches had successfully completed the programme.

Cartoon of the day

Dailymirror

Uni admission: Standardisation going out

 Dailymirror

The district quota system introduced under the standardization of university admissions is presently under review for the introduction of a novel system in conformity with recommendations by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), officials said.

The standardization of admission criteria was introduced in 1973/74, and it was roundly opposed by the Tamil polity. Political analysts even cited it as a reason, among others, for the advent of Tamil militancy.

Currently, 40 percent of students are admitted in island wide merit, 55 percent on district quota and five percent on the least developed district quota.
An official of the University Grants Commission (UGC) said that the number of students to be admitted on district quota is still determined according to the 1993 population of the country. The official who wished to remain anonymous said that the quotas allocated to each district did not tally with the subsequent population changes.

“It was argued at that time that students from the northern districts including Jaffna were at the receiving end after the introduction of the quota system. However, the population of the north has dropped today. Yet, the northern districts still enjoy the same quotas determined according to the 1993 population. At that time, there were more than 700,000 people in Jaffna. It has come down to 400,000 today,” the official said.

Also, the official said though the Colombo population had increased both due to natural growth and migrations, it enjoyed a proportionately low quota in university admissions.

The LLRC in its report had recommended the appointment of an experts committee to do with the quota system for a merit based system. Recently, the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the LLRC Recommendations, in a report to the diplomatic community in Colombo, informed that a committee had been established to work in this regard. A period of two years has been stipulated for the UGC to finalize action on the issue.

Asked for a comment, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that a new system would be implemented gradually without causing injustice to any community.

“It cannot be done overnight. A gradual approach is actually needed for it,” he said.

Professor R. O. Thatil who introduced the Z-score marking system for Advanced Level Examinations, also stressed the need for gradual doing away with the district quota system.

“Once a fully pledged school network is established throughout the country, there is no need for a district quota. We can abolish the system gradually,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)

First woman head of UGC takes over

February 1, 2013, 9:25 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The country’s first woman to be appointed head of the University Grants Commission, Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama assumed duties yesterday morning.

Prof. Ms. Hirimburegama succeeded Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, who would return to the Political Science Department of the Peradeniya University.

Prof. Hirimburegama joined the Botany Department of the Colombo University as a lecturer in 1990. She received a double promotion, as the Assistant Professor, at the age of 38 years. She promoted as a professor when she was 41 and Senior Professor at 49.

She served as a member of the UGC and was the founder of the Magampura Agrarian Technology and Social Science Institute in Hambantota. Prof. Hirimburegama played a major role in launching degree and postgraduate programmes in tissue culture and is the author of five books and 35 research papers.

Prof. Hirimburegama served as the General Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and 2007, President of the Institute of Biology and Secretary of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science.

During her tenure as the Vice Chancellor of the University, from 2008, the Colombo University was ranked as 2,000 in the first 7,000 universities in World.

An old girl of the Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo 04, Prof. Hirimburegama is the daughter of Dr. Punchi Bandara Sannasgala, an academic researcher on Sinhala language, Sinhala literature, Pali and Sanskrit.