COPE guns for shirking dons

October 26, 2012, 9:33 pm , The Island


The Parliamentary watchdog committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has observed that there were serious lapses on the university administrators.

"According to details provided by the University Grants Commission on the number of lecture hours conducted by each lecturer in the year 2010, there were 117 lecturers whose number of lecture hours conducted for the entire year had been less than ten," COPE’s interim report for the period from 01.01.2012 to 30.09.2012, submitted to Parliament by its Chairman Senior Minister DEW Gunasekera on Thursday, said.

The report said: "The Committee is of the view that the university education in Sri Lanka requires some drastic changes for its qualitative development. The curricula have not been changed for years with the changes taking place in the relevant fields over the past few decades. Most of the graduates who pass out from the universities do not possess a satisfactory competency in the English language and the common grievance with regard to most of the degree courses is that they are not job oriented. The sharp decline in the number of students who offer Economics, as a discipline, is a matter of concern.

"The Committee also observed some serious lapses with regard to the administration of certain universities. It came to light that the commitment of certain lecturers with regard to betterment of the academic performance is not up to the required level. The committee strongly criticizes the relevant authorities for turning a blind eye towards this matter."