Hotline to deal with examinations problems

 Dailymirror
Consequent upon the recommendations of the committee that looked into the problems regarding the GCE Advanced Level results, the Education Ministry will introduce a new hotline from today for the public to make inquiries and complaints about matters pertaining to different national examinations, Minister Bandula Gunawardane said today.

The Education Minister said that the new hotline with only a few digits had been prepared by Sri Lanka Telecom in consultation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC).

“We will hold talks with the private sector service providers as well in this regard. Then people will get a chance to access the Department of Examinations on this hotline through any service provider,” he said.

He added that the committee had recommended improving the human resources of the Department and modernising the computer unit.

“We will appoint a few committees to deal with each of the issues identified by the expert committee,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)

Presidential Committee and GCE A/L results

January 22, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island.


Many have expressed their dissatisfaction over the findings of the committee appointed by the President to investigate the results of the GCE A/L results 2012. Now the committee itself has come forward informing the public why the committee findings and recommendations failed to resolve the issue once and for all. Responding to my article on The Island (January 16), Prof Ranjith Premalal de Silva, Vice Chancellor of the Uva Wellassa University and a member of the committee informed us that "the five member committee discharged their functions according to the Terms of Reference entrusted upon them by the President". He has further revealed that the ToR of the committee had not included a provision to go into the heart of the issue, the method of calculation of the Z-score in a situation when the examination was held under two syllabi, new and old. Prof de Silva writes: "The committee had no mandate to question the legitimacy of Z score formula or the mathematical equation proposed by the five member expert committee appointed by the University Grants Commission to amalgamate the Z-scores of old and new syllabus candidates." Does it mean that we should accept Prof. de Silva’s plea of ‘not guilty’? I will turn to this question below. Let me confess that I am not an expert on statistics and have no intention of acquiring such knowledge in future. This is not because I have no faith or confidence in statistics or I believe statistics is ‘another big lie’, but because I am quite weak in quantitative analysis. I am ready and humble enough to accept that I was totally ignorant of the ToR when I wrote the above-mentioned article. However, the non-inclusion of the Z-score issue in the ToR, in my opinion, demonstrates that the people who were responsible for appointing the committee and preparing the ToR had from the outset an intention to sweep certain matters under the carpet. Psychoanalysis suggests that what is absent and silent are in many instances equally, if not more, important than what is present in understanding and diagnosing the problem.

The validity of the Z score and the correctness of the formula used are subjects that have to be debated by the experts in the field. That was why I did not blame respective ministers for not understanding the formula. Since I am not a person who could give a judgment on the subject, I was forced to depend on the studies by the experts. I found the argument of Prof. R O Thattil’s article is logically consistent. This logical consistency made me to believe he was correct. Meanwhile, Prof Nalin de Silva, came up with a fundamental argument that ranking done by using Z score method might have serious flaw in comparing groups with different properties. Hence, the issue he raised was that even when the performances of two students in three subjects were compared Z score may not provide a valid method of ranking. It appears to me that Prof. (Nalin) de Silva has made a valid point, but it is not relevant to the issue at hand. Of course, when we think of examinations in future, Prof. (Nalin) de Silva’s point has to be taken seriously. At the same time, we have to accept the fact two people, their properties are not fully comparable and any abstract formula grasps only certain features and properties. However, it does not mean that we should not use existing knowledge in making comparisons and ranking until we resolve all the relevant issues involved in such an exercise.

Prof. Ranjith Premalal de Silva responding to my claim that I believed Prof. Thattil was correct wrote: "However, Prof. Liyanage himself admits with a conditional statement that all his arguments are based on strong belief and not on the understanding of the relevant issue with Z score". He is correct that not only my beliefs but also my knowledge and understanding are conditional. And in social sciences, conditional knowledge is not a weakness. Let me confess again, I could not make a similar statement regarding natural sciences as my knowledge in that area is extremely limited. Since the committee consisted of people who were experts on their own field—I have no objection to add statistics as an area of expertise of Prof Ranjith Premala de Silva)—I strongly believe they the members would have carefully read the ToR before setting about their task asked themselves whether they could within the given mandate do justice to the issue? Had they done so, they would have realised that the investigation within the purview of the given ToR was not meaningful. Academics should not agree to do anything that they are asked to do. They have to be aware of the fact that what they should perform is a socially responsible task. They should have the right and courage to refuse to do thing that they believe do not produce reasonable results. My second argument is that although Prof de Silva, referring to the issue that was raised by Joseph Stalin, claimed that he could prove that Stalin was wrong, he did not try in his article to prove, using his expertise in spatial statistics, the correctness of Z score formula used in the ranking exercise. I am sure there is no ToR that limits Prof de Silva when he writes to newspapers. So he could have used his expertise in the field to counter the argument by Prof Thattil. Had he done so in a logically consistent way, I would have even changed my ‘conditional statement’ about Prof Thattil’s article.

I should make one final comment. Prof. (Premalal) de Silva’s article raised an important issue over attitude. He seems to think that those who raised questions over examination results tries to mess up education. One problem in this country is that when someone raises an issue over something she or he is branded a spoiler. This happened to me personally soon after the conclusion of the long trade union action by FUTA. When the government and the FUTA agreed for a compromise formula to end the trade union action, some leading members of FUTA started malicious mud-slinging campaign against me saying I had betrayed the TU action taking the side of the government. In a similar manner, Prof de Silva seems to assume that we raised these issues relating to the GCE A/L exam results to discredit the government. If the government and its officials had stepped into shoes of the candidates and their parents, and looked at the issue in a less arrogant manner, this matter would have been resolved a long time ago. Whistle-blowing is one of the corrective mechanisms of democracy.

The writer teaches political economy at the University of Peradeniya

E-mail: sumane_l@yahoo.lk

Time management: Work-Life balance

January 22, 2012, 8:01 pm , The Island.


Welcome

Welcome to the seventy fourth (74th ) edition of the regular column "The Catalyst".

Personal Development Skills

Some time back here in this column we discussed about time management skills. There was a request to cover such similar topics which can be broadly identified as personality development skills more in the column. We have discussed things like presentation skills also in the past. Today I thought of refreshing our minds about time management skills and then discuss a few other areas such as stress management, conflict resolution skills, meeting skills etc in the near future.

Time Management

There are some who say that the Asian culture doesn’t have an inheritance of working to exact times as the Western culture. Some also take the view that certain Asian and African cultures are actually core-value based. What this means is that, they aren’t too worried about the finer details of things like working to exact times but rather work based on core values. As long as values such as helping each other, friendship and brotherhood are met, they are kept happy. They would be working to approximate times rather than exact times.

I don’t disagree with this argument. However, whether we like it or not, we are now caught up in a system where we need to work according to time although one could claim it’s a bit Westernish.

On the flip side, for generations our culture has had auspicious times (nakath) which we take into concern during Sinhala/Hindu new year as well as when initiating other important milestones in our lives. So, it’s not correct to say that working to time is completely out of our way.

Time Management as a habit

I think it is difficult to impose things like this on a society. Such things need to be put into the system within the people and make them habits. Cultivating this attitude needs to happen early in life when people actually groom themselves to be future adults. For that firstly, we need to make sure adults and the society as a whole displays such qualities so that youngsters learn from it. Of course as folktales tell us, when the adult crabs walk sideways, the babies learn to do the same way! So as grownups, all of us should become examples for our future generation.

Secondly, at schools we can put this into practise by walking the talk and really doing things on time. One thing that I fail to understand is that although through the entire school period students’ work in line with a set time table, they don’t come out from the system as punctual people. Perhaps not all the teachers are that punctual or maybe the influence from the parents and the society at large reverses what the school system does.

Useful Tips

Apart from punctuality, there is a whole lot of things we could do to better utilise our time. What you accomplish during a 24-hour period depends on your own motivation, your energy, your skills and abilities and other resources. Since there are always demands on your time, it may be helpful to think about what you will do with your time and to consider some strategies for more effective time management. Time management is not a way to make us work harder and longer, but a means to help us work smarter to accomplish work more easily and rapidly.

Benefits of time management are that it would make things efficient, successful and let us be healthy. There are a lot of things that make it difficult for us to manage our time effectively. Unclear objectives, disorganization and inability to say "no" are some of those reasons. So, we need to try and improve on these areas.

Interruptions usually are a big hassle in effectively managing time. I am always interrupted by the mobile phone for instance! These calls not only distract us from the task, but sometimes they interrupt the train of thought and you can’t return to where you were before the call. Therefore you need to identify the ‘interruptions’ and learn to manage them effectively.

We all like to pay visits to our friends and relatives’ places, but conversations for excessively long times can cost us time.

As much as we think we are busy, there are times in our day when we are not really doing anything. Recognizing and making use of these times can have a positive effect on our efforts.

Doing too many things at once also make things too difficult. I have seen this quote which says "The quickest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time".

All work and no play is also not advisable. Most successful people balance work and life well. When work takes over our lives, we not only give our body little time to re-energize, but we may end up sacrificing the really important things in life like family and friends.

Work Life Balance

When we talk about Time Management, what we talk about is not a life that does as much "work" as possible. No. It is about a life that manages time in such a way that you have time for both "work" and "play". "Play" in the sense other activities in life. It could be about family gatherings, dinners, musical shows, games, movies and what not. The work life balance is a very important thing. Professionals as well as many individuals today who are running hard in this competitive world find it hard to manage multiple things that are on their plate.

But by being conscious of the need to balance all these within limited time frame is a good start so that you consciously allocate time for everything.

I don’t pretend to be a one that has the best work life balance! Of course I do have my challenges but I am conscious of the need to balance and actively working on it daily while having further improvement goals in my mind.

I invite you to send your ideas and opinions on this area and then we can discuss those through this column.

Be SMART!

One important strategy you can employ to manage your time is to set clear goals for yourself. Effective goals should be SMART. i.e.: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based.

When a goal is too vague, you may never know how to reach it. Make sure that you know exactly what you hope to achieve. When you have a goal that is measurable, you will know how far you have to go to reach the goal, and when you get there its easily trackable that it has been successfully completed or otherwise. Although it is commendable to set your sights high, sometimes we try to accomplish more than we can actually do. So, let’s try to set achievable goals. They should also be realistic. And the last important thing is to make the goal time-based. It is important to set time guidelines for your goals, so that you can keep track of your progress as you are going along.

When you set SMART goals, it’s good for the task as well as for the use of time eventually helping with work life balance objectives as well.

Another strategy is to practice Do, Delegate, Delay or Delete. Each thing you have to do can be prioritised based on this.

Do – Determine the things you think are most important to accomplish and things you should do yourself.

Delegate – A truly effective person understands that it is not productive to try and do everything themselves and recognizes that some things are better handled by others. Delegating not only frees up your time for other things, it ensures that resources are used wisely.

Delay until another time – Some things can wait. The danger is delaying too many things until deadlines are near. The best policy here is to consider when things are due, how long it will take to accomplish them, and what your current workload will allow.

Delete – If you have set goals using the guidelines (SMART) mentioned earlier, you may recognize that some of them are not achievable or realistic, or that they are just not important. This could even help in managing the work-life balance.

Another personal time management skill is to make good use of "waiting time". For instance:

- Time you spend commuting on a train or bus

- Time you wait at the doctor for your appointment

- Time you spend "on hold" on the telephone

- Time you spend when you arrive at a meeting earlier than you had anticipated

The trick to making use of your waiting time is to always make sure you have something with you that you can work on in the event that you are kept waiting. For instance reading letters/books, emails or writing letters.

I hope today’s discussion will be useful and helpful for you.

A National Conference

Just to update you about an important event, the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies will host a National Conference on the ‘Role of the Business Community in Reconciliation’ from 2:00-6:00 pm on Tuesday, 24th January, 2012. Sri Lankan businesses have contributed appreciably to the reconciliation process by investing in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces. Members of the business community and experts on reconciliation will present on their contribution to the national reconciliation process.

Speakers at the conference will be:

* Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka

* Rohan Gunaratna, Head, International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research

* Harin Malwatte, Secretary General, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce

* Emelda Sukumar, Government Agent – Jaffna

* Deivanayagam Eassuwaren, Chairman, Easwaren Brothers Exports (Pvt.) Ltd.

* Sanath Ukwatte, Chairman, Mt. Lavinia Hotel

* Aruna Lokuhetti, President, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka

* Linda Speldewinde, Managing Director, Academy of Design Colombo

* Mano Sekaram, CEO, 99X Technology & Secretary General SLASSCOM

* Waruna Madawanarachchi, Director, CIC Agri Businesses Ltd.

* Brindley de Zylva, Managing Director, CEO, Lanka ORIX Finance PLC.

* Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Executive Director, Kadirgamar Institute

For more information, please visit www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk

See you next week!





The Columnist

Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama is a professional with significant experiences. In 2011 he was recognised as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Sri Lanka. Yasas has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Colombo and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Swinburne University in Australia. He has worked in the USA, UK, Sri Lanka & Australia and being trained in the USA & Malaysia. He is currently involved in the training organisation, Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk). Yasas is also an Executive Council Member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL – www.cssl.lk). Apart from this column, he is a regular resource person for ‘Ape Gama’ program of FM Derana (Sunday 3-5pm). Yasas is happy to answer your relevant questions – email him at yva@lankabpoacademy.lk .

Free Education vs. Freedom of Education

*University System in the Global Knowledge Hub of Sri Lanka

January 22, 2012, 8:10 pm , The Island.


By Sirimal Abeyratne, Professor in Economics University of Colombo

Policy Brief prepared for Pathfinder Foundation

University education in Sri Lanka has so far been operating behind the high protective barriers under the state monopoly. Despite frequent rhetoric for reforms, this important sector was not open to liberalization even after more than 30 years of liberalization policy reforms. Therefore, the university system in Sri Lanka continued to exist with all of the typical problems of a "state-owned enterprise" operating in a "closed-economy" model. The University system did not expand enough to cater to the growing demand so that there is a serious supply shortage. The cost of producing the service is transferred to a third party so that there is no price and quality concern either at demand-side or at supply-side. There is no incentive structure developed within the University system to improve competition and efficiency. All forms of reforms, often through the loans and grants from the donor agencies, seem to have touched upon the problems on the surface without addressing them at their source.

The issue has become more important today than ever before within the context of the government’s policy thinking centered on creating a ‘dynamic global hub’ in knowledge, among other things. The bottom line of the ‘global knowledge hub’ is that Sri Lanka should be able to produce globally competitive knowledge in catering to the global demand. Even if the policy concern for creating a ‘global knowledge hub’ is kept aside, those students in Sri Lanka who foresee a ‘dead-end’ after taking GCE (Advanced Level) examinations, should have a choice to obtain higher educational qualifications with international competence.

The Policy Brief is aimed at highlighting the problem and identifying the guidelines to support the government’s effort in reforming the University education system. The reform process presented in the Policy Brief includes eliminating state monopoly through liberalization, granting management and financial autonomy to the state-owned universities, changing role of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and, the issue of free higher education.

The Problem: Can we do the business as usual?

Sri Lanka could boast about its impressive educational standards of people with Net Primary Enrolment Ratio close to 100 percent and Adult Literacy Ratio over 90 percent. Yet these achievements make little sense in the context of globally competitive knowledge and skills. It is a pressing question that what percentage of people in our literate society has the competency to work in a globally competitive labour market. Of course, even a substantial number of people who have that competency do not remain in Sri Lanka in contributing to its national economy either because there are no opportunities or because the reward for making that contribution is very little.

Free Education of a Minority, excluding the Majority

According to the official statistics of the UGC, every year more than 125,000 students (out of nearly 200,000 taking the GCE (Advanced Level) examination) become eligible for University admissions in Sri Lanka. Although it does not mean that all of them should be given University admissions, all of them should have a choice and access route. Yet the state-owned Universities can accommodate only about 15-16 percent (around 20,000), who enjoy the privilege of receiving "free education". This means that, although education is a human right, the majority lose even the "freedom of education" under the closed higher education policy of the country, leading to deep-rooted economic, social and political problems among the youth.

According to the reported data 15,000 – 20,000 students leave for University education abroad, while another 3,000-4,000 students choose to enter the local private institutes that are affiliated to the foreign Universities. Depending on the affordability, the students going abroad choose countries from USA, UK and Australia at the high-cost end to India and other South Asian countries at the low-cost end. The opportunities for professional and vocational education have also not developed in the country parallel to its University education. The majority of the students who passed the GCE (Advanced Level) examinations, therefore, appear to find a "dead end" along their path to acquire university or other forms of tertiary education at a reasonable cost.

According to official statistics from the UGC, Sri Lankan government spends around 1.5 percent of total government expenditure or about 0.3 – 0.4 percent of GDP on University education. This is a meager amount compared to most of the other countries where the government and the students, both share the cost of University education. An expansion of the State University system depending on the government grant does not appear to be a viable or feasible policy option as it would exert further pressure on the government budget. Besides, it would not be an answer to most of the burning issues within the Sri Lankan University education.

Centralization of the University System, curbing Competition

Under the ‘centralized’ University system in Sri Lanka, which does not have an incentive structure to be more competitive, it is not unusual to observe the sub-standards of the average output at international level. There are a number of issues to be highlighted, while the roots of some of the issues run well beyond the University system to Secondary education as well.

* Universities do not have the right to select their students, while this right is exercised by the UGC. Under this system, as ‘cramming’ day-and-night for the GCE (Advanced Level) examination has become the only avenue for University admission even if the students lack knowledge in applications, critical thinking, soft skills and, performance outside the subject area.

* In a comparative perspective, the attributes of the Sri Lankan University students show that by age, they are 3-4 years older than their counterparts in most of the other countries, including those in the South Asian region. The Universities have failed to adhere to a fixed academic year which often extends beyond the normal 365-day year, compelling the students to remain and waste more time in the University than the expected time.

* Education is a service which has a cost to produce and, hence a price, which is actually transferred to a third party (the tax payers). As the students do not pay and the Universities do not charge, there is less incentive on both the demand-side and the supply-side for the product quality. A related issue is that the Sri Lankan University system subsidizes higher education of the rich more than that of the poor.

* Universities depend largely on government’s budgetary allocations for their recurrent and capital expenditure so that they do not exercise management and financial autonomy. Therefore, "management" is only a matter of "running the university", adhering to the rules and regulations imposed from outside. The performance and progress of the University is related more to the personal character of its leadership than to its centralized management system.

* As the higher education sector is protected by entry barriers and monopolized by the government, there is no incentive for competition and, hence efficiency improvement. Even within the University system, government universities hardly compete among each other so as their managers and academics.

Policy Guidelines

The policy guidelines are directed at reforms in the higher education sector ensuring liberalization, competition and, quality of the output at international standards. Liberalization, apparently, opens up the room for foreign and private participation in the higher education sector. Even though, there is much concern about liberalizing the higher education sector, what is lacking in the current policy thrust is the need for reforms in the state-owned Universities and the regulatory mechanism that govern them. Without reforms in these areas, the problems in the state-owned Universities are likely to get aggravated as liberalization, of course set the parameters for inefficient sectors to lose competition. Therefore, the reform process needs to be based on a holistic approach if Sri Lanka is to establish a thriving higher education sector with the participation of both the government and the private sectors.

Removal of State Monopoly

It is essential to eliminate state monopoly in University education by (a) inviting top-ranked Universities in the world to set up their off-shore campuses within Sri Lanka and (b) granting ‘degree-awarding status’ to local higher educational institutes which satisfy the requirements. The liberalization policy could be extended to cover technological and vocational education as well.

The focus of these institutions should not be limited to satisfy mere the local demand, but the regional and world demand as well as the home demand of the foreign Universities. Even from the point of view of the international students, it would cheaper and more attractive to study in Sri Lanka than in USA, Western Europe and other high-income countries as well as, perhaps in their home countries too.

In order to maintain the consistency and incentives for studying in Sri Lanka, the liberal economic policies of the country need to be strengthened and the immigration procedures should be aligned with the requirements. A legal framework needs to be in place in order to facilitate the international student demand for higher education in Sri Lanka.

Management Autonomy to State Universities

The state-owned Universities as they are at present would become highly vulnerable to a liberalized higher education sector and, would tend to deteriorate further. It is necessary that the relevant authorities grant the responsibility in management and financial autonomy to each of the Universities to become competitive in a liberalized environment. Each of them could be managed by an independent ‘Director Board’ responsible for administrative and financial management.

The government should withdraw gradually from allocating treasury grant for recurrent expenditure, and should provide necessary powers to the Universities to raise income and expenditure. However, the government can divert its grants to the Universities to spend on infrastructure and capital expenditure, research and development and, staff upgrading including their postgraduate studies. The Universities should have the powers to initiate and run the courses independently in a cost-effective manner and, to recruit faculty (including from abroad) as well as to select the students (including foreign students). They should also have the ability to retain efficient faculty, by paying competitive salaries or allowances.

New Role for the University Grants Commission

The role of the UGC, which continued to exist under a centralized and regulated University system in the country, is likely to become redundant in a liberalized higher educational sector. With the provision of management and financial autonomy to the Universities as well as their right to select students and staff, most of the UGC functions would be transferred to the University level. However, a top-ranked centralized body such as the UGC could play an even more important role for the development of the higher education sector by concentrating on the following areas: (a) designing and implementing higher educational policy, (b) granting accreditation rights to the higher educational institutes, (c) implementing mechanisms to assess and maintain minimum international quality standards (including individual courses, graduates, staff, management and infrastructure etc) and, (d) implementing the government’s ‘free education’ policy at University level.

Free Education and Beyond

Sri Lanka’s free education at University level is not in conflict with the reforms as mentioned above, when it is taken as a separate issue. Free education grant could be provided to the student (not to the University), who receives admission to a University, which charge its price. This would also expand the choice of the student to select the university s/he prefers most the University and create an environment for competition and quality improvement within the University system.

It is, however, necessary to revise the free education policy and to go beyond free education to other forms of financial assistances. In this respect, educational loan schemes, sponsorship schemes and, scholarship schemes could be expanded beyond their current standards and coverage. Free education at University level should also be revised: First, as the system operates at present, the student who receives free education does not have a commitment and accountability so that it is difficult to justify the abuse of the system as well as the brain drain, both at a cost transferred to the tax payers. Secondly, it is also difficult to justify free education at University level to all the local students alike, when the upper-income groups in the country can actually pay for it.

(Your comments can be sent to Pathfinder Foundation; Email: pm@pathfinderfoundation.org)

University dispute: dons up the ante

January 22, 2012, 10:02 pm , The Island.


by Dasun Edirisinghe

University teachers who staged a token strike on Jan. 18 against proposed private university bill and salary issues, now demand a discussion forum on the higher education reforms among the academics.

President of the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that there had been no response from the government to their token strike but they had an earlier planned meeting with Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake on Friday.

"At the meeting the minister and his officials agreed to a discussion forum on the higher education bill," he said adding however that the minister had not positively responded to their demand for abolishing the proposed bill.

Dr. Devasiri said that the FUTA had demanded the abolition of the bill and they would be ready to resort to trade union action if the government moved to push it through Parliament.

Minister Dissanayake had insisted at the Friday’s discussion that the government had yet to finalise the bill, but FUTA could not believe the minister’s statement, Dr. Devasiri said.

The FUTAchief said that his association would decide on the nature of the trade union action at a future executive committee meeting,

FUTA temporarily suspended its trade union action in July 2011 on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s promise to increase university teachers’ salaries fro Budget 2012.

FUTA demands the abolition of the private university bill, a salary hike, allocation of 6% of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) to the education sector among other things.

When contacted by The Island, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that the government had had a wide ranging discussion and all parties had agreed to sort out the problems through consensus.

He said that the next meeting would be held in this regard shortly.

Discovery of billions of alien planets means life everywhere – SL scientist

January 22, 2012, 10:04 pm , The Island.

By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe said the latest discoveries reported last week implying the existence of hundreds of billions of alien planets has an intimate connection with his theory that life is exceedingly commonplace in the universe.

Now Director of a new research Centre studying all aspects of Life in the Universe, the Buckingham Center for Astrobiology, Professor Wickramasinghe wrote in the online Journal of Cosmology that the new discoveries connect in an important way with recent work published in Volume 16 of the Journal of Cosmology in which it is argued that the evidence for microbial life is everywhere in the galaxy.  Astronomical discoveries in recent years have shown that exceedingly complex organic molecules resembling life chemicals are widespread in the universe accounting for about one third of all the carbon in interstellar space.

Professor Wickramasinghe and his colleague, the late Fred Hoyle fathered the revolutionary idea that  microbes travelled on comets from deep space and seeded the life on earth distancing from the then existing notion that life originated on planet earth. The theory became known as panspermia – evidence for which has grown over the years.

Commenting on the recent discoveries of alien planets the Buckingham Center in a statement said, "Precisely 50 years ago ideas relating to the extraterrestrial origins of life began their slow journey to the realms of orthodox science. The Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin had just circumnavigated our planet in a spaceship; a paper by Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe, Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology and the late Sir Fred Hoyle on carbonaceous dust in the deepest recesses of space was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1962, and throughout a full two decades previously, astronomers had convinced themselves that cosmic dust was comprised inorganic ice, similar to the ice particles that exist in the Earth’s cumulous clouds above which Gagarin had soared. The suggestion of carbonaceous grains caused instant and bitter controversy, and the possibility of a connection with life on Earth was outrageous heresy. This debate has taken nearly 5 decades to resolve, with new data from a fleet of space craft carrying sophisticated equipment, and thousands of investigators contributing new results and new ideas. The organic nature of dust in interstellar space and comets is now finally established, and the connection with life is also beginning to take shape. This scientific detective story has been published in an article by Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology in the online Journal of Cosmology."

Wickramasinghe said "It’s been a long and bitter struggle to see a transformation of thinking from Earth-centered theories of life to considering the proposition that life could be a truly cosmic phenomenon. After 50 years of argument the picture is emerging that we are, in a sense, all aliens!"

In an email interview with this correspondent, he said, "The evidence for alien planets in our galaxy has become ever stronger in recent times.  The discovery of billions of free floating super-Earths, not connected with any star was reported less than a year ago by T. Sumi and colleagues.  The technique for finding these planets (gravitational microlensing) was pioneered by Rudolph Schild at Harvard in 1996, who already argued that dark matter (missing mass) in our galaxy was comprised of rogue planets.  This week A. Cassan and colleagues argue again for hundreds of billions of planets orbiting stars in the galaxy.  These discoveries connect in an important way with a recent paper by me published in the Journal of Cosmology in which it is argued that evidence for microbial life is everywhere in the galaxy, accounting for about one third of the carbon in interstellar space. The discovery of trillions of alien planets, must mean that life is extremely commonplace in the galaxy.  A large fraction of the rogue planets in space have habitable zones beneath thick hydrogen atmospheres. Microbes floating in space would take root within the habitable zones of hundreds of billions of super Earths in space."

He concluded, "Billions of Earth-like planets imply Earth-like life. We are part of a chain of being that connects life of Earth with the most distant parts of the Universe."

GMOA sees saboteurs within the union

January 22, 2012, 9:58 pm

By Don Asoka Wijewardena, The  Island

Reacting to reports that a new group was about to break away from the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), its General Secretary Dr.Chandika Epitakaduwa claimed yesterday that there was rebel faction in the GMOA. A few rejected members were trying to sabotage the union, he said.

Two trade unions the pro–JVP All Ceylon Government Medical Officers’ Association and the Association of Medical Specialists had already been formed by thebreakaway groups.Those two unions were representing only five per cent of the doctors whereas the GMOA had a membership of 16,000. It was up to those doctors to elect office bearers or reject them at elections if the welfare of members was not taken care of, Dr. Epitakatuwa told The Island in a brief interview.

Dr. Epitakaduwa alleged that a few doctors had tarnished the image of the GMOA for their personal gains. They had been expelled from the union after a disciplinary inquiry, he said. Those doctors had formed alternative trade unions on the pretext of protecting doctors’ rights and privileges.

Dr. Epitakaduwa added that there were some GMOA members advancing their personal agendas. "I have found serious malpractices in the postal voting and some doctors even attempted to sabotage the postal voting," Dr. Epitakaduwa said adding that the GMOAhad thwarted their efforts.

The GMOA was in the process of amending the Constitution because it had not been revised for a long time. Some provisions of the Constitution needed amendment to suit the present-day needs, Dr. Epitakaduwa said.

Scholarships: India told to come through Treasury

Sunday Times
Sri Lanka has told India that all foreign scholarships given to public servants should be channelled through the External Resources Department of the Treasury and not be given directly to recipients, a top official said yesterday.
The Treasury’s External Resources Director General Mapa Pathirana told the Sunday Times that the position was conveyed to India after a discussion with officials of the External Affairs Ministry.
“We have had some inquiries about offers of scholarships directly,” he said without elaborating from where the inquiries were made. Mr. Pathirana said that after the inquires, they had briefed the Indian High Commission about the procedure.
He said the Indian High Commission officials were told that if necessary a copy could be sent to the relevant agency, but the original of the invitation should come to the External Resources Department.
“We have a procedure which will be followed. We will contact the relevant ministry, channel the invitation and make recommendations,” he said.The government also has put on hold a US$ 2 million (Rs. 227 million) offer by India to modify the Agriculture faculty of the Jaffna University and provide more training facilities to it.
Jaffna University Vice Chancellor V. Arasaratnam said the Treasury had instructed them not to accept the offer or to have direct dealings with any diplomatic mission. However, the VC said it was on the instructions from the University Grants Commission that the university had initiated action to obtain the assistance.
Meanwhile Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna during his recent visit announced the increase of educational assistance to Sri Lanka.
“I am happy to announce a substantial increase in India’s educational assistance, amounting to 2.5 billion Sri Lankan rupees in grant-funding, to assist meritorious Sri Lankan students,” he said speaking at an event in Galle.“Under this programme, scholarships and self-financing slots for masters and doctorate-level courses will be increased to nearly 270 per year.
This marks a three-fold increase, and includes 120 slots for undergraduate courses, 25 seats for IT engineering, 50 slots for Masters-level courses, and 40 slots for a highly-subsidized self-financing scheme. In addition, support for deserving students pursuing their GCE ‘A’ level and university degrees in Sri Lankan institutions has been expanded to cover about 500 students every year,” he said.

ur Self-Destructive Indifference

False paths, credulously followed… – Gunter Grass (Eulogy on Christa Wolf)
By Tisaranee Gunasekara, Sunday Leader

Picture courtesy: www.english.readsrilanka.com and Picture courtesy: www.visualphotos.com

Good warriors often make bad leaders. Those who are good at winning wars are not necessarily good at governance — “with their serial signature fiascos…”
The AL results imbroglio is, and seems destined to remain, unresolved. That fiasco has two components – faulty district rankings and an erroneous Z-score. The investigative Committee appointed by the President was mandated to study only the minor issue – district rankings. The major issue of a faulty Z-score (an allegation backed by several experts) remains un-investigated. This is an indefensible failure since Z-score is the password of entry to a Lankan university — the desired goal of most AL students.
The Committee did not look into allegations of an erroneous Z-score because the Committee was not mandated to do so, according to its head, Dhara Wijethilake. Any investigation into the AL results imbroglio cannot be complete unless it covers the Z-score issue. By limiting the Committee’s mandate to the issue of district rankings, the President effectively prevented a full and credible investigation of the fiasco. Was it an oversight? Was he wrongly advised (one cannot reasonably expect the Rajapaksas to know or care much about Advanced Levels)? Or was it intentional, a deliberate attempt to sneak past the problem without resolving it, a classic Rajapaksa tactic? Was this Committee intended for elusion rather than resolution, as was IIGEP, the APRC, the LLRC or the Committee into the 2010 killing of FTZ worker Roshain Chanaka?
The AL results fiasco is symbolic of Rajapaksa governance and the illimitable damage it can do to all Lankans. Those students wronged by an erroneous Z-score would belong to families from all ethno-religious communities, all classes and all political persuasions. Children of parents who vote for the Rajapaksas would be victimised as much as children from anti-Rajapaksa or apolitical families. Actual and nascent tyrants kill and persecute their opponents; but they also cause irreparable harm to the living conditions and future prospects of their supporters (and those who are indifferent to them). Just as adulterated petrol damaged the cars of Rajapaksa supporters and opponents alike, the administrative, economic and political imbroglios to come will harm Lankans across all spectra, including the pro/anti-Rajapaksa one.
Rajapaksa governance is degenerative. Its monomaniac focus on the Dynastic Project makes it favour Rajapaksa kith and kin and place a far greater premium on servility than on qualification or ability. If this process continues, the Rajapaksas will, advertently or inadvertently, cause the debilitation of every major Lankan institution, including the military and the Sangha Sasana. The obvious harm that is being done to the education sector is an early indication of the havoc Rajapaksa governance will wreak, in the years to come.
Democracy is not just about elections. Giving rulers carte blanche in between elections is not democratic. Citizens have a right, duty and responsibility to remain vigilant, to weigh, assess and analyse the actions of their leaders and protest non-violently whenever necessary. Politics is inescapably relevant to the everyday life of even the most apolitical citizen; politics will not leave us alone, however much we may want to divorce ourselves from it. Therefore professional politicians who are in politics for power, money and prestige cannot be allowed to monopolise politics and exclude citizens from having any say in how their country is run, in between elections.
The issue before us is not regime change. It is about adulterated fuel which damages our vehicles, corrupt deals which increase our indebtedness and education mishaps and health failures which endanger the future of younger generations – issues which should concern Rajapaksa opponents and supporters alike, as well as the politically indifferent. It is about myopic, inept, unintelligent governance, which damages the country and all those who live in it – including the most diehard Rajapaksa supporters. It is about preventing Sri Lanka from becoming a dysfunctional country which is incapable of performing such basic everyday tasks as ordering a consignment of fuel or conducting an examination, without mishap. It is about preventing inefficiency and corruption from becoming administrative and societal norms. It is about safeguarding the credibility of key institutions. It is about surviving as a reasonably efficient, just and lawful – and thus a liveable – state.
Learning from the Rulers
Queen Victoria’s German husband brought the Christmas tree into England; that custom then spread into British colonies and beyond. Most puritanical cultural norms revered by many a Sinhala Buddhist as our very own came to us from our Victorian colonial rulers. Leaders set trends, both good and bad. This is especially so in actual or nascent tyrannies where Rulers maintain a constant presence in the lives of the ruled, in the guise of wise guides and indispensable arbiters.
The Rajapaksas are intolerant of what should be tolerated and tolerant of what should not be tolerated. They are intolerant of Democratic freedoms and human rights, peaceful protests and minority aspirations, power-sharing and international humanitarian norms. They are tolerant, often boundlessly, of corruption and waste, inefficiency and favouritism, cupidity, sloth and violence, so long as the perpetrators are their own. Additional Magistrate Prasanna Alwis has decreed that parliamentarian (and monitoring MP of the Defence Ministry) Duminda Silva must remain on the list of suspects in the Kolonnawa multiple-killings. Will the AG’s Department instruct the Police to follow up on the Court Order, at least now? Will the President order his party man to come back? Will Interpol be informed about Mr. Silva? Or will he evade justice, because he is still in possession of his VVIP patrons? What will such a blatant manifestation of impunity teach us – and future generations – about justice, law and morality?
When a video depicting four US marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters surfaced on the YouTube, the Obama administration did not dismiss it as enemy propaganda nor reject it as an impossibility. Instead a high level investigation was conducted and the culprits identified, within days. The administration then condemned that atrocity in no uncertain terms, neither trying to excuse it not dismissing it as a miscellany. The US Marine Corps are to launch their own ‘holistic’ investigation which will seek to unearth the factors which enabled this abhorrent deed by posing the question, “What happened in the Marine Corps that this happened” (ABC News – 13.1.2012). This mature US response is in stark contrast to the manner in which the Rajapaksas have responded to every allegation of error and misdeed, from the AL fiasco to the Channel 4 videos.
By facing the scandal head-on, the Obama Administration took the first indispensable step towards getting over and beyond it. By resorting to evasions, excuses, justifications and denials whenever allegations of mistakes and misdeeds crop-up, the Rajapaksas ensure that we can never put those issues behind us. The allegations of human rights violations will continue to haunt Sri Lanka until they are credibly investigated. If allegations of an erroneous Z-score are ignored, AL results will join other indisputable truths desecrated by the Rajapaksas, such as Central Bank statistics. This is not a safe path for Lankans to traverse ­— in trust or in indifference.

Ananda Coomaraswamy

one of the great seminal minds of this country

January 21, 2012, 4:01 pm


by P. Weerasekera
Rajagiriya, Sunday Island

Please provide me a little space in your esteemed publication to indicate a ‘via media’ to resolve the ‘issue’ caused by re-naming of Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha as Nelum Pokuna Mawatha which has led to much pain of mind among discerned citizens. Despite much criticism expressed in the print media, it is difficult to believe that the bureaucrats who recommended this change or the decision-makers who approved the same would agree to any change of what has been done. It may be appropriate to recall that over fifty years back when the railway station ‘Ratmalana’ was re-named as ‘Kotalawalapura’ in honour of Sir John Kotalawala, a public outcry by agitated Ratmalana residents made the railway authorities in a matter of weeks to restore the earlier name which since then continues to this day.

Green Path was named Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha some years back to honour this great son of Lanka internationally famed as a scholar-colossus. Since many Sri Lankans of the present generation may not have heard much about him or his work, a few lines are devoted here to give some idea of his scholarly attainments.

Ananda Coomaraswamy was born in Colombo on 12th August 1877 to one of the most distinguished Hindu families in the country as the son of Sir Mutu Coomaraswamy (the first non-Christian from Asia to be admitted to the English Bar) and as a cousin of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. He had his entire education in UK and completed his formal education at the University of London obtaining a doctorate in science and pursuing a study of linguistics. On his return to Ceylon he was appointed as the Director of Mineralogical Survey in 1906 when he was a mere twenty-nine years.

As Director of Mineralogical Survey until 1909 his travels in the country which apart from leading to the identification of new minerals indigenous to Sri Lanka such as Thorianite, had kindled an interest in him to collect samples of Sri Lankan Art and studying its history. This culminated in the writing of his first monumental work "Mediaeval Sinhalese Art" in 1908.

He was much concerned about the corrupting influence of Western colonialism on the traditional arts and crafts which were products of the rich indigenous culture of the land, and initiated steps to counteract this degradation through the Social Reform Society of which he was the Founder President. His essay "An open letter to Kandyan Chiefs" was a kind of ‘wake-up’ call to the Kandyans in authority to draw their attention to arrest this trend.

He had written with profound scholarship on a wide variety of subjects which included geology and mineralogy, philology, literature, painting and music of several cultures. He even dealt with metaphysical questions which have engaged the attention of philosophers and statesmen from earliest to contemporary times. Many of his essays have been published in collections in the Western World in English, French, Spanish and several other European languages. A bibliography of his writings published in 1978 has listed over 650 research studies and papers exclusive of reviews he had done.

Christmas Humphreys (British Q.C. and later Judge) well known to Sri Lankan Buddhists as the author of the Penguin paperback titled "Buddhism" (published in 1951 which sold over a million copies) has rated Coomaraswamy’s work ‘Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism’(1916) as "the finest single volume on Buddhism yet published". (Having purchased a copy when he was 17 yrs, Humphreys has cited this work as the reason which led him to embrace Buddhism). Coomaraswamy also functioned as one of the Editors of WebsterNew International Dictionary and for thirty years served as Research Fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston USA until his retirement (1947). He passed away shortly afterwards on 09th September 1947 less than three weeks after retirement.

Thirty years after his death when Coomaraswamy’s birth centenary was celebrated by scholarly symposia in 1977 and publication of books in USA, UK, India and Malaysia, a two-volume work of his writings titled "Selected Papers" edited by R. Lipsey published by the Princeton University Press when reviewed in the Times of London, he had been referred to as "one of the great seminal minds of this century". While the scholarly world was paying such high tribute all what Sri Lanka- the land of his birth had done to honour this savant was to re-name Green Path as Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha. Even that token tribute has now been sadly removed by re-naming the road for the framework of a pond which provides a stylized perimeter ring for the recently opened magnificent theatre complex. The incomprehensible action to dump the name of such a pioneering philosopher/scholar who had no equal in the country during his time and was revered internationally in the world of scholarship and brought much honour to the land of his birth, has also provided an ideal opportunity to unpatriotic elements to even attempt an ethnic twist to this unfortunate episode.

Although three-fourths of Sri Lankans follow the teachings of Buddha who has preached ‘puja cha pujaniyaanan (honour those worthy of honour ) it is a pity if the name of Ananda Coomaraswamy – the first Sri Lankan to bring international fame to our country is to be forgotten thus from national recognition. The following appeal is therefore made for the kind attention of all who possess the authority to take remedial action.

The land area encircled by the newly named Nelum Pokuna Mawatha, Marcus Fernando Mawatha and CWW Kannangara Mawatha has developed to be the cultural triangle of our capital city. The National Museum which houses the precious specimens of our proud cultural heritage, The National Museum of Natural History, Art Gallery, John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Royal Asiatic Society, Mahaweli Centre and the newly opened National Theatre for Performing Arts are all accommodated here.

Therefore may I urge that this quadrangle be named as Ananda Coomaraswamy Square as a first step to perpetuate his name for posterity. There cannot be a more suitable spot than this quadrangle in the entire country for this purpose. The erection of a suitable permanent memorial could be planned thereafter.

An ideal day to take the first step and name the Square is fast dawning on us in two weeks time on 04th February - the country’s National Day.