PRIVATE UNI. BILL SHELVED

• 12 Jan 2012
• Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
• BY KELUM BANDARA

The Cabinet yesterday decided to withhold, for the time being, the proposed Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Qualification Frame Bill, which students and university teachers have described as an attempt by the government to set up private universities, informed sources said yesterday.
University teachers and students have staged protest rallies in different parts of the country in recent times against this bill, though the Higher Education Ministry had insisted that it was meant only to regulate the private institutions which conduct degree programmes in the country. In some instances, protesting students had even clashed with the police. The JVP has also opposed the plan to enact such a bill saying that it would pave the way for the privatisation of university education. The issue had been discussed at length at the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday. It was noted at the meeting that private degree awarding institutions could be established in the country even under the prevailing laws.
However, Housing Construction and Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa had reportedly said that, if the proposed bill were enacted, it would be politically disadvantageous to the government.

“Everybody will say that it was the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that set up private universities,” he told the meeting.
The president who responded had said that the government should stop any discussion about this bill for the time being.

Students threaten  Warden with death,
dons refuse to teach

* S’gamuwa  University clash

January 11, 2012, 9:40 pm , The Island.

By Nilantha Madurawala

Teachers of the University of Sabaragamuwa have withdrawn from their academic duties demanding that undergraduates who attacked the house of university warden and security personnel during a protest on Tuesday night be arrested.

The Sabaragamuwa University Teachers’ Association threatened to strike work unless the attackers are brought to book.

An unidentified group assaulted three students inside the university premises the previous night. Student unions blame the Rakna Lanka security firm affiliated to the Defence Ministry for the attack.

Three students injured in the attack are receiving treatment at the Pambahinna hospital. Following the attack students had a meeting and thereafter some of them stormed the house of the University warden Sanjeewa Prasanna Jayaweera causing damage to it. They threatened to kill him unless the Rakna Lanka security personnel were removed from the university immediately.

President of the Sabaragamuwa University Teachers’ Association, Dr A.W. Wijeratne told The Island that he, too, had visited the warden’s house under attack. "They attacked the house, while the warden, his wife and child were in. There is a serious threat to the life of the Warden Jayaweera.

We condemn this attack and will not attend lectures until legal action is taken against those who are responsible," he said.

Soon after the attack on the warden’s house, the undergraduates surrounded the security office near the main entrance and chased the security personnel out. Sources said until 2. 00 am yesterday the university was in chaos.

The police were called in to protect the university.

Warden Jayaweera said that he had identified the attackers.

Vice Chancellor of the University Prof Mahinda S Rupasinghe said that police investigations were being conducted.

Docs demand a  transport allowance

January 11, 2012, 10:01 pm , The Island

by Don Asoka Wijewardena

Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) demands that the government take immediate action to pay transport allowance to all doctors in the public service.

GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Upul Gunasekara addressing the media yesterday in Colombo said that the medical profession had been getting step-motherly treatment, but other professionals such as engineers, accountants and civil servants were getting transport allowances.

Dr. Gunasekera said that more than 120 intern and post-intern doctors had already left the country as doctors were underpaid and denied facilities in Sri Lanka. Those doctors had been appointed to the far-flung places in the North and the East.

A transport allowance for doctors had been approved way back in 2007 by the Salaries and Cadre Commission, Dr. Gunasekera said. Only judicial medical officers were paid the transport allowance at the moment.

UGC Chairman playing politics – Tissa Attanayake

January 11, 2012, 10:10 pm , The Island.

by Zacki Jabbar

The Chairman of the University Grants Commission had claimed that undergraduates were playing politics, but it was he who was dancing to the government’s tune, the UNP said yesterday.

General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake MP, told a news conference in Colombo, that university students had the right to engage in political activity and no one could deny them that.

It, was ironic to hear the UGC Chairman accusing undergraduates of politicking, when his institution was being run according to the dictates of the Rajapaksa regime and not in terms of the UGC Act, he said adding that "political puppets living in glass houses should not throw stones at others."

Commenting on the UNP and its internal squabbles, Attanayake said that there has to be unity for the party to progress.

He, said that if the UNP was to form the next government, all members should set aside their differences, forget their losses and work with commitment, without undermining the leadership.

In an obvious reference to Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa’s claim, that he could independently recruit 100,000 new members, Attanayake said membership drives were most welcome, but all programmes should be implemented in consultation with the decision making bodies and organisers of the respective electorates.

"We are in the process of re-vamping the UNP, reorganising branches, filling vacancies that exist for electoral organisers etc", he said while observing that members and especially office bearers should work as a team and not independently of the party machinery.

Pvt. University Bill aimed at creating degree shops – university dons

January 11, 2012, 9:47 pm , The Island.

By Rajith Savanadasa

At a panel discussion on a government move to establish non-state Higher Education Institutions yesterday, convener Ven. Dambara Amila thera said the proposed Higher Education act was a threat to free education in Sri Lanka.

Fellow panel member and senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Dr. Rohan Fernando summarized the contents of the proposed Bill, pointing out the major differences between the new Bill and the Act of 1978 and the amendments thereto in 1995. They are:

Etablishing non-state Higher Education Institutions

Creating the Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework, Quality assurance and Accreditation Board above the University Grants Commission in the Higher Education hierarchical structure

Establishing of a council called the Council for Non-State Higher Educational Institution

Permitting a Non-state Higher Educational Institution to register as a company.

Fernando said that the proposed board consisting mostly of political appointees would undermine the University Grants Commission as the Grants Commission chairman will be only a member of it. The non-state universities would function like a profit-making ventures catering to the rich. That would introduce demand driven courses and the traditional syllabi that include subjects like Humanities, History and Archeology would be discarded.

Prof. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri of the University of Colombo pointed out that there was a demand for higher education which could not be met by the existing national higher education system. He said there was also a decline in employability of graduates produced by the national universities. This is why the Qualifications Framework, Quality assurance and Accreditation Board had been created. However, there was the possibility of non-state universities becoming degree shops, warned Prof. Devasiri, stressing that commercialisation would run counter to the raison d’etre of a university. He cited examples of how privatization of the health and transport brought about the ruination of those sector.

Prof.  Mahil Mendis and Dileepa Witharana were also among the speakers who criticized the proposed Bill.

Jaffna University gets lion’s share of funds - SB

January 11, 2012, 9:46 pm , The Island.


By Shamindra Ferdinando

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake yesterday warned that a split in the JVP could lead to their third insurrection since April 1971.

Addressing the university community at the Jaffna University, Minister Dissanayake alleged that the breakaway rebel group was contemplating an armed struggle. Asserting that the number of undergraduates aligned with the JVP was relatively low now, Minister Dissanayake expressed concern the rebels had won their confidence.

The warning was in the wake of University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake alleging that the JVP rebels were trying to stage an uprising similar to ‘Arab Spring.’

Since the conclusion of the country’s war on terror in May2009, JVP rebel operatives had been making an attempt to reach an understanding with the northern undergraduates and those who had fought for the LTTE, Minister Dissanayake said. The government was aware of rebel operatives visiting the Jaffna University in a bid to strike a deal with northern undergraduates.   

The Higher Education Minister was in Jaffna to explore ways and means of improving the conditions at the university there.

Commenting on post-war developments in the higher education sector, Minister Dissanayake said that the Jaffna University had received much more funds than any other University for 2012. In keeping with an accelerated project, the government had allocated Rs. 573mn for the premier higher education institute in the Northern region.

MP Dissanayake acknowledged the urgent need to provide adequate accommodation for the students of the Jaffna University. Due to a sharp increase in the number of local tourists from the South, undergraduates find it extremely difficult to find accommodation, the minister said.

The government was in the process of building two hostels for the benefit of undergraduates. Minister Dissanayake said that least two more hostels were needed to meet the current requirement for accommodation.

The government intended to provide the Jaffna University a fully equipped playground, including indoor facility and additional lecture theatres and the Engineering Faculty would be shifted to Kilinochchi, he said.

Responding to allegations that the Rajapaksa administration was flooding the Universities at Jaffna and Vantharamoolai, Batticaloa with Sinhala students, Minister Dissanayake emphasized that selections were made purely on qualifications and the Z score obtained by successful candidates. The minister stressed that the government would never allow universities to function or set up on the basis of ethnicity or religion.

Minister Dissanayake said his ministry was in the process of bringing in legislation to streamline private universities first introduced way back in 1987 by the J. R. Jayewardene government.  Of the 59 higher education ventures approved by the BOI, 51 continued their operations, he said, underscoring the need to empower the UGC and the Higher Education Ministry to supervise private educational institutes.

Alleging that a section of the Tamil media had misinterpreted a recent speech he had delivered at the Eastern University at Vantharamoolai, Minister Dissanayake said the Tamils living in the Northern Province never wanted to divide the country on ethnic lines. The failure on the part of the two major political parties to develop the two Provinces since Independence had led to political turmoil culminating in a bloody war. But today the two Provinces were undergoing rapid transformation, the minister said.

The minister warned that Western powers were bent on destabilizing India.  The success of their operation targeting India would entirely depend on breaking-up Sri Lanka on ethnic lines.