A godless, dhamma-less, education system?

July 11, 2012, 8:05 pm 

By Fr. Mervyn Fernando, the island

The key role in a holistic/humanistic education is played by the teacher. Child psychology or even common sense makes clear that the life of a child is shaped firstly by parents (or parent substitutes) and subsequently by teachers. These are the two sets of gurus, the de-guru, recognized by the ancient educational wisdom of the East. The experiences of the child from these gurus and their example shape the child’s life–his/her mind, heart and spirit—especially in the early impressionable years.  A vision or dhamma is concretized in a vision of life and a set of values which a child has to absorb in graded steps to grow in wisdom and virtue as he/she grows in age.

The recent furore over the validity of Z-scores in the A-level examination is very symptomatic of the current malaise of Education in the country – the tip of the iceberg. So it is not surprising that the past few weeks have seen many articles in the newspapers expressing serious concerns about a number of issues in both school and university education. If there is no smoke without fire, what is burning in our education system? And how can we put out the fire?   

 First and foremost we must clarify the goal of education. What is the final raison d’etre of education – of schooling at primary, secondary and tertiary levels? The final goal of education is nothing less than the humanisation of the child/student; his/her development in body, mind, heart and spirit into the fullness of life. A human being born into this world is helpless; helpless to develop into what it could and should be, namely, to become a functioning human being. Unlike in the animal world where this process happens practically automatically, in the human world it is entirely dependent on the human environment, mostly the environment of parents, teachers and other adults. The chrysalis of the baby has to grow into the butterfly of mature personhood. As Plato rightly observed, education is a second birth without which the first one is meaningless.

The renowned philosopher Alfred North Whitehead stated: "In the schools of antiquity philosophers aspired to impart wisdom; in modern colleges our aim is to teach subjects. The drop from divine wisdom to textbook knowledge of subjects which is achieved by the moderns, marks an educational failure". (The Aims of Education) But what passes for education now is a system of rote learning "cribbed, cabined and confined" to the classroom in a rigid framework of compartmentalised subjects of very little relevance to life, taught by poorly motivated/qualified teachers to be tested at examinations of problematic validity – a far cry from the goals of humanization. Knowledge is only one slice of the cake of education and that to only as a gateway to wisdom. Very tellingly T. S. Eliot asked, "Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge; where is the knowledge we have lost information?"

Neil Postman, a major voice in Education, in his very perceptive book, The End of Education, subtitled, redefining the value of school, says, "for schools to make sense, the young, their parents and their teachers must have a god  to serve ... if they have none the school is pointless;  then he goes on to say, "to put it simply, there is no surer way to bring an end to schooling than for it to have no end or no goal". We can also re-state this reflection of Postman in a more familiar saying:  "Where there is no vision the people perish". The God that postman refers to need not be identified with the Christian God, though that would be definitely so for  Christians. In a more general sense, god (with simple ‘g’) refers to what we might call a comprehensive narrative (or meta-narrative, or to use a Buddhist equivalent, dhamma) about the whole of life—of self, the world  and  the Transcendent. Only such a god can give meaning to our lives and every aspect of it;  and man cannot live without meaning as Viktor Frankl discovered so poignantly in his experience of life in the death camps of Hilter (see, Man’s Search for Meaning).

Every religion is almost by definition, a meta-narrative of the human condition, responding at the deepest level to questions about self and world, the one and many, origins and ends, providing the big picture within which the small pieces find their place. The pieces of a jigsaw puzzle cannot be put together without a look at the whole picture. In this sense, education can be meaningful only in the context of a dhamma. It is not a question of teaching a particular religion as a subject (in fact that could be counter-productive), but the whole of the curriculum, the syllabi, and everything that falls under the rubic of ‘schooling’ be determined, consciously and explicitly, in the light of a definite Weltanschauung (world view) or vision of the Whole, which Aldous Huxley called the ‘perennial philosophy’ or in the Buddhist/Hindu idiom, the sanatana dhamma. Only that kind of comprehensive, goal-oriented education can mobilize the dormant aspirations of children and youth  to become fully-developed or enlightened, realized persons; in Gandhian language to become Mahatmas or great souls, people of high human stature. Only such citizens will be an asset to self, community and country.

The fundamental malaise of education in our country today is  that it has no clear end except the routine passing of examinations. Nietzsche’s famous saying "he who has a "why" to live , can bear with almost any "how"", applies as much to learning as to living. School education today has a surfeit of "how" without a "why"; in a way this itself could be considered an implicit vision of life or a "religion" though it’s advocates claim ideological neutrality. As Michael Lerner observes, "the alleged neutrality of contemporary education is a sham that covers up the systematic indoctrination of students into the dominant religion of the contemporary world: the slavish subordination of every one to the market place" (Spirit Matters). A good part of the evils we lament in our society—social irresponsibility, corruption, blatant political opportunism, dishonesty, individualism, exploitation, naked consumerism, (shop till you drop!), self–aggrandisement , violence etc. etc. even in high levels of public and political life are direct or indirect outcomes of the debasement of education as accumulation of knowledge/information, in that kind of self-centred pragmatism, devoid of any vision, god or dhamma. In politics, for example, we have hordes of petty-minded politicians but hardly any statesmen, namely, those who put the good of the country  above personal gain and party interests.

The key role in a holistic/humanistic education is played by the teacher. Child psychology or even common sense makes clear that the life of a child is shaped firstly by parents (or parent substitutes) and subsequently by teachers. These are the two sets of gurus, the de-guru, recognized by the ancient educational wisdom of the East. The experiences of the child from these gurus and their example shape the child’s life–his/her mind, heart and spirit—especially in the early impressionable years.  A vision or dhamma is concretized in a vision of life and a set of values which a child has to absorb in graded steps to grow in wisdom and virtue as he/she grows in age. But, unfortunately, in the current system of education the teacher is "compelled" to be a mere dispenser of knowledge in a rigid framework of curriculum and syllabus. He/she is a caricature of what he/she should be– a guru–the enlightened, guide and life model–in that fine guru-shishya relationship which was the hallmark of classical Education in both East and West. It was his/her noble role to draw into actuality the potentialities latent in the child.

As in many other areas, there is a woeful poverty of serious thinking on education in the country. What is called for is not just an academic exercise in the technicalities and methodologies of education—how many subjects for the GCE A/L examination, how to calculate the Z-score etc. but a deeply thought-out holistic/integral philosophy of Education relevant to our country and our times, identifying the god or dhamma it has to serve, embodied in a structure which will remain untouched by changes of governments, vagaries of politics and idiocyncracies of education ministers. The first UNESCO Report on Education, Learning to Be put it very clearly: "Today it is no longer desirable to undertake educational reforms in piecemeal fashion; without a concept of the totality of goals and modes of the educational process. To find out how to reshape its component parts, one must have a vision of the whole". Instead, we are still lurching blindly from one piecemeal reform to another? At what cost to the nation?

The writer is the Founder–President of the Institute of Integral Education, SUBODHI, Piliyandala.

A tale of two patriots

July 10, 2012, 12:00 pm 

By Kath Noble, the island

The threats to senior academic and trade union leader Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri have been condemned by a wide range of individuals and institutions in the last week. He is a well known personality in Colombo. More importantly, as the representative of the national body of university teachers, he is part of the mainstream.

Also, it is clear that the struggle in which his organisation is engaged is in the national interest.

The Government has done its best to present the dispute as being purely about salaries, which it claims have already been increased ‘unusually’. What it does not mention is that these ‘unusual’ increases are nowhere near what was recommended by the University Grants Commission back in 2008 after an in-depth study. Sri Lankan academics are amongst the lowest paid in the world, which is a major problem in recruiting and retaining the best – so many promising young scholars go abroad for postgraduate education and never return. How is Mahinda Rajapaksa thinking of turning Sri Lanka into the ‘knowledge hub’ of Asia when universities in so many other Asian countries – never mind the West – pay their academics so much better? Even when they choose to stay at home, rather than focusing on their research and teaching, they are compelled to search for other opportunities to earn.

The increases are not even as ‘unusual’ as the Government promised when FUTA called off its earlier trade union action in July 2011. Ridiculously, the Ministry of Higher Education is now suggesting that there was no more than a ‘perceived’ agreement, whatever that means – perhaps the Minister had his fingers crossed under the table?

One of the issues the FUTA strike has brought out very successfully is the abysmally low public spending on education in Sri Lanka. Their demand for 6% of GDP is now well known, along with the fact that Sri Lanka currently spends 1.9%, down from 2.9% in 2005. If this trend continues, the country will be on par with the Central African Republic by 2015 or thereabouts. Within the education system, universities are particularly underfunded, with spending down from 0.52% of GDP to 0.27% under Mahinda Rajapaksa. While standards are still high – at undergraduate level – this is only because Sri Lanka has a strong history. It has to be maintained, and of course further developed. Universities need facilities, and they need money to send their academics to conferences and for both short and long courses abroad – this is how globally available knowledge can be brought to Sri Lanka.

The other key demand was for a consultative mechanism. Academics are concerned that decisions affecting both the future as well as the current functioning of universities are being taken without their knowledge, never mind input or agreement, despite the fact that their autonomy is guaranteed by legislation.

This was certainly the case as regards the ‘leadership’ training the Government suddenly decided all students needed to receive from the Army. But there are many other examples.

Perhaps, the most important is the Private Universities Bill, legislation that is being pushed for the purpose of attracting investors – foreign and domestic – into the education system. The Government seems to think that there’s no difference between training a country’s doctors and providing its citizens with a range of attractive footwear – the profit motive will act as both an incentive and a guarantor of standards. The fact that this is not the case anywhere in the world doesn’t seem to matter – many countries have very few private universities (e.g. the UK), while even in places where private universities are common, they are often almost exclusively not-for-profit institutions (e.g. the United States). Where for-profit institutions are significant, a strong oversight mechanism is needed to prevent corruption.

Oversight doesn’t seem to be a strong point of the Ministry of Higher Education, as the recent debate about the Malabe Medical College has demonstrated – who wants to be treated by a doctor who hasn’t done any clinical training because his or her school didn’t have an attached hospital?

Easily workable alternatives, such as offering paid places in state universities to the best students currently denied seats, are ignored in favour of SB Dissanayake’s money-making scheme. For example, for every 1,000 students currently taken to study medicine, the district quota system that is so important for promoting equity among the differently-served regions of the country means that 2,000 students with equally good if not better marks are rejected. Just Rs. 1.5 million would cover the cost of their education in state universities, whereas they have to spend Rs. 10 million at the Malabe Medical College.

Some argue that what is needed is not expanding the number of graduates, which is more or less adequate for the state of the economy, but developing vocational training. But apparently that isn’t a field that interests people with money.

It’s not a matter of being against the private sector, but recognising its strengths and weaknesses, and its capacity to upset the whole higher education system if not handled with care.

FUTA wants the Government to restate its commitment to free education. It would be hard to find anybody who would deny the contribution this policy has made to the country’s development and in particular to its record in social indicators. This is what makes it so difficult to understand why the Government is so determined to change direction now. FUTA is doing everybody a favour in raising these issues.

Its strike comes after months of discussions with the Ministry of Higher Education, and numerous disappointments. One of the triggers was the Government’s failure to accept in full the Grade One admission lists for members’ children – FUTA officials were treated in an appalling manner when they went to discuss the matter with the Ministry Secretary. Now the threatening phone calls have started, and FUTA president Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri has complained that people claiming that his daughter has applied for a job at the Defence Ministry have been asking neighbours about his family’s movements.

This kind of treatment is apparently now the norm in Sri Lanka. People at the forefront of any and every campaign of even mild significance should expect to be harrassed. And they won’t know how far it will go.

I don’t know if the Government is responsible – maybe it’s just an extraordinary coincidence that the targets all constitute some kind of challenge to the administration!

When a similar thing happened to an old friend of mine a few months ago, I asked virtually everybody I know what to do. Nobody had a clue (other than writing about it), but not even the people I asked who are members or representatives of the Government suggested that there was no danger. Indeed, they all feared the worst.

Herman Kumara, convenor of a national organisation of fish workers, came under threat after protests against the hike in fuel prices in February 2012. These were actually spontaneous, since the fishing community wasn’t exactly thrilled to see the cost of their main input go up by nearly 50% – genuinely ‘unusual’ – but the Government decided to blame Herman. He is a prominent activist in the area where the main protests took place and on issues related to the fishing community. The Government knows him well, since his organisation often puts forward suggestions for the development of the sector. Facing strong criticism from both within and outside the country due to the shooting of a protester, the Government announced that it was all an NGO conspiracy. Rajitha Senaratne named Herman.

Of course what the Minister should have done was name the Special Task Force. Or, maybe the IMF. In the end, it was the Government that had decided to increase fuel prices and the Government that had failed to manage the reaction this generated.

Herman believes that Rajitha Senaratne was unhappy with him since he had earlier organised protests against the landing of sea planes on the Negombo Lagoon, one of the Minister’s money-making schemes that benefits only a handful of people who can afford to hop from one water body to another in a jet while jeopardising the livelihoods of a whole lot of other people who spend all day and sometimes also all night trying to catch something they can give their families to eat.

This effort too was in the national interest.

Herman was followed from the airport on returning from an international conference. Having managed to lose the car, he decided it was too risky to go home. Indeed, the same car was later seen moving around his village. His neighbours were questioned about his family, job and vehicles by people claiming that he had applied for a bank loan.

Since he is not an establishment figure, his plight did not interest very many people. He went into hiding.

University teachers are lucky that their trade union president has so many individuals and institutions willing to back him up, to stand up for their right to disagree. They are engaged in an important struggle, and they should continue with it. In addition to ensuring the future of higher education in the country, FUTA must teach the Government that it cannot rely on intimidation to get its way and that it must act to forever banish the climate of fear that continues to envelop Sri Lanka three years into its hard-earned peace. They should do it not just for themselves but also for those who do not enjoy their status, who will never be heard if they speak up alone.

kathnoble99@gmail.com

Medical Faculty staff bring out their woes

July 10, 2012, 10:08 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

The Faculty of Medicine Teachers’ Association (FMTA) of the Colombo University said yesterday that over the successive years funds allocated for higher education had progressively declined when compared to the country’s inflation and other countries in the region.

President of the FMTA Dr. N. D. N. A. Mendis told The Island that it had led to a crisis situation, where the universities found it difficult to retain quality academic staff.

The inability of the universities to make the working conditions attractive and conducive, had resulted in brain drain of academic staff, he said.

"If we are to take an example from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, two of our lecture theatres and the main building of the Anatomy Department were demolished over four years ago with a view to putting up a more spacious new building, which was approved by the University Grants Commission and the Cabinet of ministers," Dr. Mendis said adding that up to now it had not materialised.

According to the senior academic, their faculty had to conduct over 35 examinations annually. At present, those examinations were conducted using examination halls of other faculties, and private institutions.

It had caused enormous inconvenience to the staff and students alike, he said.

Dr. Mendis said that the communication allowance given to the specialists in the Ministry of Health had not been approved for the university clinical staff who were incharge of wards providing patient care. Such discrimination caused frustration amongst the academic staff.

"We demand that the government fulfill those grievances immediately to protect the quality of university education of the country," he said.

‘Z-score’ advisory committee meets today

July 10, 2012, 9:23 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

The committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to advise the University Grants Commission (UGC) on how to implement the Supreme Court directive on the calculation of the ‘Z score’, would meet for the first time today.

The six-member committee, headed by Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, includes Chancellor of the Peradeniya University P. W. Epasinghe, Prof. R. O Thattil, Prof. Sarath Kulatunga, Prof. Sarath Banneheka and Prof. P. Ariyaratna.

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ordered that the ‘Z-score’ be calculated separately for students who sat the GCE (A/L) examination under the new and old syllabi in 2011.

The committee would meet at the Presidential Secretariat.

Universities paralysed for the seventh day

FUTA signature campaign against govt.

July 10, 2012, 9:49 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) yesterday said that they would collect signatures from the public beginning tomorrow for a petition against the government’s delay in solving their problems.

The universities remained paralysed for the seventh day yesterday due to the strike launched by the university teachers.

FUTA media spokesman Dr. Devaka Weerakoon said that they had collected signatures for the petition from all universities during last week.

"Our target is to collect one million signatures," he said.

Dr. Weerakoon said that the FUTA would hold a discussion with Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga on Thursday.

FUTA launched an indefinite strike on June 04 demanding the allocation of six per cent of GDP for the education sector, engagement of university teachers in the decision making process related to the higher education sector and a pay hike.

‘Turmoil in the knowledge hub’ - a reply

July 9, 2012, 7:33 pm , the island

The article titled ‘Turmoil in the Knowledge Hub’ by Dr. Laksiri Fernando states that he had credible information that there was interference with the student lists selected for university admissions. It is indeed very sad to note that my learned teacher has got his facts wrong. As the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, I take full responsibility to state that there is absolutely no interference of any sort in the selection of students. The process is considered as one of the most sacred functions in the higher education system, and the officers responsible for this process maintain the highest level of integrity and honesty. We always ensure that truth and justice prevails in the selection process, and that all applicants are treated as equals and that there is equity in the process. It is ironic to note that those who do try to influence are often those who espouse higher ideals of democracy and academic freedom from the academic community itself.

I do not know who this credible source is, that divulged such incredible information to the writer, and it is indeed very sad to note that a senior academic has resorted to penning down such information without verification. As a senior academic who has stayed in the system through thick and thin and put the students and their education before personal aggrandisement, I take full responsibility for this statement and I have the facts to prove what I say.

The second statement is that there is a tug-of-war between the UGC and the Department of Examinations and that there is an apparent breakdown of confidence. I have to mention that each institution has its own roles and responsibilities that are very clearly delineated in the system. The two institutions mentioned here have always maintained a very good understanding of these roles and responsibilities and have respected each other’s functions. We have no tug-of-war. As any administrator is fully aware, there is a need to adhere to the procedures and protocols that govern the two institutions, as we are accountable to the general public. Hence, we continue to function with a very good understanding and have identified the common ground where collaboration is necessary in dealing with complex national issues - the intricacies of which, do not seem to be all that clear to the writer.

Professor Gamini Samaranayake,

Senior Professor/Chair,

Chairman of the University Grants Commission,

Colombo 7.

Sri Lankan education then and now

July 9, 2012, 7:31 pm , the island

For a long period of time, many letters have appeared in your journal dealing with education in the country. These have covered practically all aspects of the subject – but the fact remains that we all know that it is still in a "glorious mess."

This writer, who graduated 62 years ago and became a professional in his field, remembers with nostalgia what education was in the country then. There were no strikes, no inhuman ragging, no mass suspensions, no hold ups simply because those who entered the institutions of higher education then came to learn and not to fool, or play politics.

There were several institutions which produced the professionals required by the country such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, architects, teachers etc. These people had one thing in common; discipline and the ability to mingle among themselves with ease and dignity, though they were in different professions.

It would not be irrelevant to mention here what a famous scientist at the time said regarding university education that he would wish to have in UK, then. The scientist was the physiologist, Professor Lord Douglas Adrian, Nobel prize winner for Medicine, Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge, President of the Royal Society and an Order of Merit. The occasion was the annual meeting of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, in London.

The subject was ‘University Education in Britain’. He summed up his speech with the following words; "the university education I wish Britain to have is one where a lawyer sitting side by side with a historian, should be able to discuss poetry."

This country, struggling to solve the problem or education, is still so far away from the above ideal that in the opinion of this writer, we will never ever be able to come even close to this ideal.

The writer hopes that the two ‘great guns’ in our Ministry of Education will see this ‘little piece’.

An Old Timer,

Colombo 4.

Kelaniya dons meet to decide on strike

July 9, 2012, 9:53 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

 Lecturers of the Kelaniya University have been invited to a special committee meeting of their union tomorrow to decide whether to join the ongoing all out strike launched by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA).

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that teachers of medical faculties, Kelaniya and Uva Wellassa Universities had yet to join the ongoing trade union action.

FUTA launched an indefinite strike on June 04 demanding the allocation of six per cent of GDP to the education sector, engagement of university teachers in the decision making process related to the higher education sector and a pay hike.

Dr. Devasiri said, 60 teachers of the Kelaniya University had asked their university union’s parent body to join the strike and they had called a special committee meeting for that purpose.

He said that there were no trade unions in the newly formed Uva Wellassa University and teachers there, too, were in the process of forming a trade union.Although medical faculty teachers did not participate in the strike, they had endorsed the FUTA demands, Dr. Devasiri said.

Dr. N. D. N. A. Mendis of the Faculty of Medicine Teachers’ Union, of the Colombo University, told The Island that his association, too, would join the strike if the government did not meed the FUTA demands.

Dr. Devasiri said that FUTA would participate in the second round of the discussion with Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga on Thursday.

* University academics of Sri Lanka launch website to collect signatures for a petition to win demands
Sun, Jul 8, 2012, 07:16 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

July 08, Colombo: University lecturers in Sri Lanka currently engaged in a strike have launched a website to collect signatures for a petition to seek support to their demands.
The Federation of University Teacher's Association (FUTA) has commenced the website to create awareness of the reasons for its trade union action.
FUTA Head, Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri has said that the trade union action of the university academics was not only to win a salary increase.
He has observed that the university lecturers were concerned about the issues faced by the education sector.
He has noted that the Z-score issue was just the tip of the iceberg and that there are far more serious issues faced by the country's higher education and the education sector as a whole.
Dr. Dewasiri reiterated that the government needs to address these issues immediately.
However, FUTA is to hold a discussion with Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga on the 12th of this month to try and resolve issues.
The FUTA website can be found at www.futa-sl.org.

IMPORTANCE OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ STRUGGLE

July 8, 2012, 12:00 pm , the island

Opening a sports complex in Nawalapitiya on July 2nd, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that his aim was to create a "healthy" generation that could win the world. Given the context of the speech, he was obviously referring to the enhancement of the physical health of the people, to be precise, the younger generation, the thaarunyaya, of the country. This expressed commitment to enhancing the physical health of the younger generation is no doubt a noble one. Nevertheless, in a context where the mental health of the same generation is virtually ignored and the concept of health is reduced to physical health, this commitment becomes rather problematic.

Universities in general and state universities in particular play a central role in defining the mental health of a society. They operate as the main sites of knowledge production and dissemination. One of their main aims is/should be to produce thinkers who are "more open than usual". However, the present situation in Sri Lanka with regard to the state universities of the country indicates that this noble role assigned to universities is increasingly being undermined and devalued. The alleged death threats to the faculty members who are leading the ongoing trade union action, the introduction of laws and regulations that have a critical impact on the country’s tertiary education sector without any consultation with the broader academic community, cheap comments made by the "patrons" of the university system with the aim of ridiculing the university lecturer’s role, the militarization of the university system through the so called leadership training given to the incoming students, and the increased political interventions that are taking place in the university system indicate the degree of this devaluation.

In a context where the pressing problems in the university sector in particular and the education sector in general are being totally and consistently ignored, the President’s statement reflects the dominant outlook that seems to value muscle power over intellectual power in today’s context.The readiness with which the government spends huge sums of public money on promoting sports, sometimes even with the help of Bollywood stars who are flown to and from the country at the public’s expense,points to the marked superiority that physicality enjoys over intellectuality in the current Sri Lankan society.

The demotion of intellectuality and promotion of physicality harmonize well with the militarization that is taking place in our society. The success of the militarization process largely depends on its ability to divert the younger generation, better known as the thaarunyaya in the present political rhetoric, from intellectual activities. The destabilization of the state university system is a necessary step towards achieving this goal. The blind-eye-and-iron-fist theory with which the current problems in the university system are being dealt with should be understood in this broader context.

In such a context, the current trade union action launched by university lecturers could be seen as an attempt to swim against the massive tide of militarization. It reminds both the rulers and the public that the primacy of intellectual power needs to be (re)established over muscle power. It sends a clear message to the rulers that the intellectuals do not approve of the ongoing militarization of society. It reminds society that producing sensitive human beings and thinkers who are "more open than usual" is more important than producing human machines that can only play roles that are already defined for them. Above all, it points to the crucial need for protecting the state university system as the oasis of intellectual freedom of the Sri Lankan academia.

Nandaka Maduranga

Kalugampitiya