SB hits at Medical Council

Dailymirror
While claiming that it was not necessary to get permission from the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) to establish the Malabe Private Medical College (MPMC), Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said arbitrary action that was being taken by the SLMC brought disgrace to the well experienced veteran specialist doctors.

“The SLMC is represented by a few doctors who do not include the reputed and recognised doctors of the country. Arbitrary action being taken by the SLMC brings disgrace to the well experienced veteran specialist doctors. They conduct protests in order to protect their financial advantages and the selfish wishes of these small groups could not be allowed to hinder the education system of the country,” Minister Dissanayake said addressing at a ceremony held in Udunuwara.

He also said the authorities had already finalised all the arrangements for the legal recognition of the MPMC and the “acceptance of degrees offered by the MPMC, despite the protest by some interested parties who are silent when various universities are opened for different fields of studies.” (R.S. Kiriyawatta) 

Making universities more effective

June 24, 2012, 7:03 pm 

By Dr. C. S. Weeraratna, the island

A knowledge society and knowledge-based economy are the latest catch words in the field of education. Knowledge, skills and resourcefulness of people are critical to the building up of a knowledge society which is crucial for achieving the objective of a knowledge-based economy. During the last two decades, most of the South and South East Asian countries have developed considerably by with the involvement of the academics. Although education at primary, secondary and tertiary level including vocational training is relevant in building up a knowledge society, universities play a prominent role in achieving this objective.

In Sri Lanka, there are 15 universities and 7 postgraduate institutes maintained at an annual cost of around Rs 20 billion. These Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) under the jurisdiction of the University Grants Commission (UGC) have a total academic strength of around 5,000, most of them with postgraduate qualifications. Among these 5,000 are nearly 500 professors, 200 associate professors, and 1,750 senior lecturers and lecturers. The main objective of the universities in Sri Lanka should be to develop human resources to meet national development needs through innovative educational, research and outreach programmes.(In fact, this is the mission of one of our universities.)

According to Prof. Ranjith Senaratna (RS) see Professors: Underutilized treasure in our universities? In the Island of 12 June a considerable number of the university academics are accomplished scholars and scientists of international repute. They possess considerable knowledge, experience and expertise in their respective fields.

But, to what extent has the human and other resource base of our universities been used to meet national development needs through innovative educational, research and outreach programmes?.

According to RS there are some professors in the Sri Lankan Universities who do not belong to this category of intellectual elite. RS says "Regrettably, some have contributed minimally to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge even in their own fields; and have not published in any indexed journal." If this is the correct position, what is the UGC going to do about it?

Universities and socio-economic development

In Sri Lanka, government funds the public HEIs and expects/promotes them to contribute to socio-economic development of the country. But, the vast intellectual and infrastructural resource base of the universities has remained almost untapped or underutilized. It is obvious that our HEIs should initiate /implement programmes to mobilise and channel their resources for regional/national development.

The university academic staff are expected to do research and extension. Conducting research, especially laboratory/field research is a real challenge. In spite of many difficulties, a large number of university academics conduct research. How have these research benefited the country?

Ideally the universities and /or the UGC should have a programme in collaboration with appropriate public and private organisations to commercialise/make use of the research findings of the university staff. It is then only that the research conducted by them can have an impact on the socio-economic development of the country. There is at least one HEI in each of the provinces and the UGC, the apex body of the university system, need to develop an effective system which will give the academics in these HEIs an opportunity to effectively contribute to the socioeconomic development of the respective provinces. What has the UGC done in this regard?

The socio-economic challenges which we face in Sri Lanka have increased considerably during the last few years. To overcome these, the academics of the universities need to collaborate with the appropriate public-private sector organisations to implement short /medium/long term programmes. But, there appears to be no effective mechanisms for the university academics to be involved/coordinate with the appropriate public-private organisations to effectively address the challenges faced by the country. A few years ago there were attempts by the Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate with the university agriculture faculties to find solutions to the pressing problems in the agriculture sector by formalising links among the public sector agricultural research institutions and the agriculture faculties of universities, but these attempts appear have died down. If such coordination had been effectively established, we would have found solutions to some of the pressing problems such as the Weligama Coconut Wilt and other issues/problems facing the agriculture sector. .

Vice chancellors

The Vice-Chancellor is a full-time Officer of the University. According to a recent advertisement calling applications for the post of VC, he/she is the Principal Executive Officer, the Principal Academic Officer and Accounting Officer, an Ex-officio member and Chairman of both the Council and the Senate. Hence, he/she is responsible for providing academic leadership, formulating and introducing management policies and should therefore uphold the principles of academic excellence, transparency, accountability, and effective leadership.

But, according to RS (‘New breed of institutional leaders for internationalising Lankan Universities’ serialised in The Island of 29th, 30th and 31st May 2012,) the procedure currently adopted in appointing Vice Chancellors is outdated and out of step with current needs". Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, in his piece which appeared in The Island (4 June 2012) has said, "In our system of patronage appointments, the most unsuitable persons – embezzlers, womanizers, drunkards, political stooges and the down-right lazy – are put up for high appointments." Perhaps high appointments include VCs. Prof. O. A. I. Ileperuma, too, in his piece in The Island of 4 June says, "We in Sri Lanka are still in the dark ages as regards the appointment of Vice Chancellors. The University academic community and academic bodies like the Senates have no say in appointing their leader and no one really knows on what basis the Vice Chancellor is selected from among the three names submitted to the President. Clearly we are 50 years backward compared to other universities even in this region. No wonder that none of our Universities are ranked in the first 1500 in the world ranking of universities."

RS is of the view that Vice-Chancellors need to be given adequate operational autonomy. But there were many instances where some VCs were alleged to have been corrupt. Right now there is case against a former VC for giving false information about his son and daughter to obtain land which belonged to two poor farmers. As RS has pointed out it is essential to have a highly competent and independent Council that can advise and guide the university administration and control the activities of ineffective and corrupt VCs.

University Grants Commission

It is true that VCs play a leading role in the universities. But, RS in his contribution to The Island in May 2012, appears to have forgotten the importance of the University Grants Commission (UGC). This is the apex body of the University System in Sri Lanka. Among the main functions of the UGC are planning and coordinating university education, allocating funds to Higher Educational Institutions, maintenance of academic standards, regulation of the administration of universities and regulation of admission of students.

An applicant to any academic post in a university has to face an interview panel of eminent academics. In the appointment of a VC, the post is advertised, and the University Council selects three candidates from the applicants. But, no such procedure is followed in the appointment of UGC Chairman, and the Vice-Chairman who are expected to provide leadership to the whole university system. Minister of Higher Education (HE) is involved in the Formulation of Policies for the Higher Education Sector. Hence, the Minister of Higher Education needs to be a person of very high academic standing (not just a graduate) with wide experience in university/academic matters. RS in his article emphasises the need to have effective leadership in the universities, who can make effective decisions under different strategic and risk scenarios. But, if the Minister of HE, perhaps the highest in the higher education sector is not adequately qualified with no experience in university matters, the whole exercise of appointing effective VC s will be futile!

If we are to build a knowledge-based society, which will eventually lead to socio-economic advancement of the country, the institutions of the higher education sector need leaders who can give effective academic leadership and the students with staff looking up to them.

The author (csweera@sltnet.lk) is the

former Professor of Agronomy at Ruhuna University and

former Professor of Soils and Water Resources at Rajarata University.

SB, stumbling block to solving university problems – JVP

June 24, 2012, 9:54 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe,the island

The JVP yesterday alleged the Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake was purposely delaying solutions to the problems of university teachers and the non-academic staff.

Addressing a press conference at party head office at Pelawatta, JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said that they would fully back the on-going strike launched by the university non-academic staff and university teachers’ strike scheduled to commence on July 04.

Responding to Minister Dissanayake’s claim that the JVP was behind the trade union action in the university sector, he said, JVP would always be in the forefront to protect the free education system of the country, which, he claimed, the present government was trying to privatise.

Herath asked how minister Dissanayake could blame the JVP for disrupting universities, when the pro-government Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya, too, supported the ongoing strike of the non academic staff.Herath said that according to UNESCO standards, a country should allocate 6% of the GDP to the education sector, but this government had allocated only 1.86% of GDPfrom the last budget.

"That was the main demand of university teachers," MP Hearth said, accusing Minister Dissanayake of abusing his powers in a bid to break the strike.

FUTA to continue union action despite threats, says its president

By Skandha GunasekaraView(s): the sunday Times

Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) President Dr. Nirmal Dewasiri vowed that the academics would continue their trade union action to win their demands despite continued threats allegedly by those connected to the defence authorities.
Dr.Dewasiri who faced threats not only to his personal security but also that of his family said he would continue to give leadership to the Association till the Higher Education Ministry takes serious note of the issues raised by the Federation.
A delegation from FUTA met with Higher Education Minister S.B.Dissanayake last Wednesday but the talks were unsuccessful.“It is apparent that the Minister is taking this matter lightly and his approach towards us is intimidating. We are very pessimistic that any productive dialogue can take place with this Minister in the near future,” Dr.Dewasiri said.

Staff members holding a protest in front of the Faculty of Aesthetics in Colombo. Pic by M.D. Nissanka

FUTA has condemned the intimidatory tactics allegedly used by the Government, particularly the threats to Dr.Dewasiri’s family.
He alleged that persons claiming to be from the Defence Ministry have visited his neighbours’ houses seeking information on several occasions in the past week, regarding his daughter.
The men had told the neighbours conflicting stories on why they needed such information, one being that as Dr.Dewasiri’s daughter is planning to go overseas therefore they needed the information and on another occasion that she had applied for a job at the Defence Ministry and security clearance was needed.
However, Dr. Dewasiri said his daughter is only in her first year Advanced Level class and is neither planning to go overseas nor interested in joining the Defence Ministry.
Dr. Dewasiri himself received an anonymous call soon after the conclusion of Friday’s media conference where a person claiming to be a student of the Colombo University accused him of sabotaging their studies and told Dr.Dewasiri that he and his family would be harmed unless he stops the trade union action.
He said the tactic was aimed at intimidating him and forcing him to back down from trade union action.
Venerable Dambara Amila Thera, also a FUTA member, said that the intimidatory tactics are used by the government as a means to solve problems. He warned that this would affect all aspects of society and that it is the duty and responsibility of the public to protest and object against such acts by the government and ensure that democracy prevails.
Meanwhile members of the University of Visual and Performing Arts have spoken out against the decision taken by the Higher Education Minister to abolish the aptitude test that is used to select applicants to the university.
Faculty Union President Chandragupta Thenuwara said that this aptitude test not only judges the knowledge of the subject but also the applicant’s creative skills and practical knowledge.
However at the Advanced Level examination 50% of the marks are given for the practical paper and 50% for the theory paper. Hence a student with low skills in practical knowledge can get an “A” pass by writing a good theory paper Therefore this aptitude test is vital to select students who have knowledge of the subject as well as practical skills, he said.
Mr.Thenuwara charged that the decision to abolish this test was taken after some students who failed the aptitude test petitioned the Minister.
He said if the aptitude test is done away with, deserving students will miss out on the opportunity to gain admission to this Faculty.

Editorial

 

 

Protect FUTA head!

June 22, 2012, 7:15 pm , the island

It was with shock and dismay that we received the news of a cowardly attempt to intimidate President of the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri. The identities of those who visited his residence while he and his family members were away on Wednesday and sought to gather information about him and his daughter from a neighbour are not known. But, it is only natural that the government has become the main suspect. Give a dog a bad name.

Dr. Devasiri leads university teachers' trade union battles from the front. An outspoken critic of the government, he has got under the skin of the powers that be because of his frank and forthright views.

Even if the government has had no hand in the alleged attempt to intimidate the FUTA chief as it claims, it cannot absolve itself of the blame for having created the present culture of impunity where anyone can harm anyone else and get away with it. This dangerous situation has proved beneficial only to the government as it is free from threats and violence which affect others. Hence, its unwillingness to change the status quo, we reckon.

It is being argued in some quarters that there is freedom of expression in this country. Yes, that argument is tenable to some extent, but the fact remains that while people have the freedom to express themselves, others have the freedom to kill them for doing so. We saw last week what happened to a group of JVPers who met at Katuwana to exercise their freedom of expression; armed goons swooped on the meeting and fully exercised their freedom to kill and maim!

Attempts to intimidate their union president notwithstanding, frustrated university teachers have unanimously resolved to launch a continuous strike from July 4 unless their demands are met forthwith.

It is only wishful thinking that the government could quell the Academic Spring which is gathering momentum. Strong arm tactics, vilification campaigns and the like will only aggravate an already bad situation. There is no way the government could justify its refusal to pay the warring dons more while spending as much as Rs. 2 bn per annum to pay the taxes of some privileged categories of state workers in blatant violation of the law. Since it is never short of funds to splurge on political circuses and VVIPs' overseas junkets with planeloads of lackeys in tow, it cannot cite pecuniary difficulties as the reason for not honouring its promises. It ought to grant the university dons the promised salary increases and be done with it!

Cocky and arrogant, the government has dug itself into a hole––a massive one at that––and is trying to get out of it desperately. What it must do immediately is to stop digging deeper unless it wants the hole it is trapped in to become its grave. It has apparently mistaken governance for a process of making promises, reneging on them and bluffing its way out of difficulties that stem from its failure to come up with the goods.

The government must order the police to arrest those who sought to intimidate Dr. Devasiri on Wednesday and take steps to protect him and his family. Let no lame excuses be trotted out! Its selective efficiency in tracking down lawbreakers is monumental. It took only a few days to nab a burglar who had broken into the highly connected SriLankan Airlines chief's house (though the thieves of priceless artefacts from the National Museum are still at large). Its failure to do so will only confirm suspicions in the public mind that it was behind Wednesday's incident.

FUTA calls on people to resist repression

‘Govt. is testing our patience’

June 22, 2012, 9:18 pm ,the island


by Harischandra Gunaratna

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) yesterday condemned the ‘repressive and intimidating tactics’ of the government and vowed that it would not allow the democratic rights of the people to be taken away.

FUTA president Dr. Nirmal Devasiri said that the members of the association would launch an indefinite strike commencing on July 4 and it would be based on six demands.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo Dr. Devasiri was critical of the Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake’s conduct which, he said, was unbecoming of a person in charge of Higher Education.

Responding to a question on whether he believed that the police could trace those who had attempted to intimidate him and his daughter, Dr. Devasiri said it was not an issue that they could tackle, noting that the police were powerless as the elements involved in such incidents operated with impunity.

"The government is testing our patience," the FUTA chief said.

The FUTA President said that some persons had visited his neighbourhood claiming to be from the Defence Ministry on Thursday and inquired about his daughter and him. They had said that his daughter had applied for a job at the Defence Ministry and also that she had been trying to go overseas.

Dr. Devasiri said that his daughter was just studying for her GCE (Advanced Level) and had never sought employment at the Defence

Ministry or tried to go overseas. A complaint had been lodged with the Maharagama police, he said.

Ven. Dambara Amila Thera said that the time had come people to rise as one against government repression. He said collective action by the public, the media with effective editorials revealing the truth and civic-minded organisations launching a relentless campaign demanding the arrest of Julampitiye Amare, who was moving freely after allegedly killing two persons, had finally forced him to surrender.

Ven. Amila stressed that if the masses acted as one against the repressive action of the ruling party, the government would not be able to continue with such action for long.

Prof. Asanga Tillakaratne said that in Sri Lanka education had become a lucrative business and the domain of the privileged and powerful. The authorities should not leave education in the hands of those who were intent on profit making, he said. "Even Harvard is a private institution but it is not a profit making one," he said.

FUTA head complains to police

June 21, 2012, 10:22 pm , the island.


President of Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri yesterday lodged a complaint with the Maharagama police that he was under threat.

Dr. Devasiri told the police that two unidentified persons had visited his house in Pannipitiya on Wednesday while he and other family members were away and inquired from a neighbour about him and his daughter’s daily routine.

The FUTA chief said that on being asked why they were making such inquiries, the strangers had told the neighbour that his (Dr. Devasiri’s) daughter had applied for a job in the Defence Ministry. (DE)

 

‘Z-Score’ judgment on June 25

June 21, 2012, 10:23 pm

By Chitra Weerarathne, the island

The Supreme Court on June 25, 2012 will deliver the judgment on the Fundamental Rights Violation application filed by a group of students and the Teachers’ Union against the formulation of the Z-Score for the 2011 GCE (A/L) examination.

The petitioners have challenged the pooling method used for calculating the Z-score for the examination conduced under the new and old syllabuses. Their position is that the two syllabuses should be considered separate in calculating the Z-score, on the basis of which students are admitted to universities.

The petitioners want the results, already declared cancelled.

UNI. non-academics in vital talks with govt. today

June 20, 2012, 10:07 pm

by Dasun Edirisinghe,the  island

A crucial meeting between university non-academic staff and government officials has been scheduled for this morning at the Labour Commissioner’s office, as the strike launched by the non-academics enters its 16th day today.

President of Inter University Trade Union Federation R. M. Chandrapala told The Island that the fate of the ongoing strike would be decided at today’s meeting.

"We expect to arrive at a final decision at the meeting which scheduled to be attended by the Labour Commissioner and officials from the University Grants Commission," he said.

Meanwhile, non-academic staff from all universities, including the Jaffna University, held a protest march from the Colombo University to the UGC yesterday.

Chandrapala said that they were demanding an immediate solution to longstanding salary anomalies.

"We don’t want to inconvenience students who face the examinations these days, but we have no other option but to strike as we have been cheated by successive governments since 1997" he said.

SB assures FUTA he will fix meeting with President

June 20, 2012, 9:30 pm

By Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) yesterday received an assurance from Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake that a meeting would be arranged with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss their grievances, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Devasiri told The Island.

Dr. Devasiri said that Minister Dissanayake offered to seek a meeting with the President after yesterday’s talks, which also involved Higher Education Secretary, Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne, failed to resolve contentious issues. According to him the talks focused on their demand to allocate six per cent of the GDP for education and the salary issue.

Asked whether the FUTA would suspend its decision to strike on July 4, the FUTA chief said that they would go ahead with it, though the minister promised to arrange a meeting.

President Mahinda Rajapaska himself had broken the earlier promise to grant them redress through the budget 2012, Dr. Devasiri said adding that as responsible professionals in the country they would meet him again.

If there is no positive response from President Rajapaksa, too, before July 04 they would launch a continuous strike, he said.