* Striking university teachers of Sri Lanka withdraw from weekend academic duties
Sat, Jul 7, 2012, 07:26 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

July 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) has announced its decision to withdraw its members from conducting weekend courses at the universities.
Accordingly, the university teachers are to withdraw from the post graduate courses and other academic duties that are held during weekends in the universities.
Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, the Chairman of the FUTA said that the authorities have not responded positively to their demands.
FUTA launched a continuous strike on July 04 despite the salary increment granted by the Ministry of Higher Education since, according to FUTA, the strike is based on broader demands to find solutions to other problems of the universities.
The FUTA demands increasing allocations for education up to 6% of GDP, freeing universities from politicization and granting facilities to admit children of the university teachers to the schools.

Can University Teachers Bend the Sri Lankan State?

JULY 6, 2012, Kafila 

tags: FUTA, sri lanka, Strike, universities

by Ahilan Kadirgamar

The major strike launched by university teachers in Sri Lanka on July 4th is gaining momentum. Their struggles are proving to be the single most sustained and nationally organised movement in Sri Lanka’s post-war years. This strike follows previous trade union action taken last year where the Heads of Departments of state universities resigned from their positions for several months. With the Government unheeding of their demands, theFederation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) has reinitiated a full blown strike that is national in character with state universities from all regions of the country participating.

This is not to say there have not been other formidable struggles particularly by subaltern forces in post-war Sri Lanka. There was the militant strike in the Free Trade Zones last year leading to police firing with one protester dead. There was the prison uprising against prison conditions in the Welikada Prison in January this year which was met with repression by the military. There were the fishermen’s protests following the fuel price hikes in February that brought parts of the country to a standstill, but led to police firing with one dead. There was the massive hartal organised by the Muslim community following an attempt to demolish a Mosque in Dambulla. And in recent days the protests by Tamil ex-militants in the Vavuniya Prison crushed by the military and the worrying murder of one of those prisoners who was transferred to another prison. Indeed, the Northern and Eastern Provinces continue to face militarised repression with curtailment of space for dissent and constant intimidation and violence. This has been the signature response of the Rajapaksa Regime in dealing with any kind of dissent and resistance; a response characterised by intimidation, violence and the targeting of leaders organising the struggles. Furthermore, the Regime has depended on polarising ethnic communities and singling out minorities in their attacks. And this is where the sustained all-island national struggle led by the multi-ethnic constituency of the state university system may pose a serious challenge to the Government.

In recent weeks, much to the shock of the academic community, some of the same forms of attacks and intimidation that others have faced, have been deployed against the President of FUTA, Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri. In addition to death threats over the phone, suspicious persons claiming to be from the Ministry of Defence have been lurking near his home inquiring about the movements of Dr. Dewasiri and his family. These acts of intimidation have been met with the outrage of many former academics and the public more broadly.

What is unique about the current strike, which builds on years of negotiations between the State and university teachers, is that the current campaign is framed as one much larger than the salaries of university teachers. Their demands challenge attempts to privatise higher education while undermining state education, the increasing politicisation and patronage characterising university education, the increasing militarisation of education characterised by the compulsory training by the military for new students and a call for an increase in national spending on education from a meagre 1.9% of GDP, one of the lowest in the world, to 6% of GDP. Indeed, for a society that has always found pride in education with historically high rates of literacy and free state education from elementary through higher education, this is a demand that will resonate with the public. And for the moment the university teachers seem to have won over not only teachers in schools but also their students.

Thus the university teachers strike has opened a debate about national policy on education. This debate is about the State’s contract with society on education. What does education mean for a democracy and how is education itself democratised? Even as university teachers are preparing to face the intimidation of an authoritarian State, they are also struggling with questions of hierarchy within the university space and the despicable practice of ragging by students. It is that democratic ethos engendered by meaningful struggle that is perhaps the most encouraging aspect of this strike; a movement that transforms universities. On July 6th, at a well attended press conference and meeting, preceded by numerous meetings over the last few weeks, FUTA was able to display both its strength and its organisation as it launched a new website, engagingposters and pamphlets and a call for a million citizens to sign a petition to save state education. The million dollar question is whether the increasingly neoliberal authoritarian state bent on slashing social welfare will bend in the face of this determined struggle of university teachers.

இலங்கையில் கல்வித்துறையில் பின்னடைவு எற்பட்டுள்ளது; பல்கலைக்கழக விரிவுரையாளர்கள் தொழிற்சங்க சம்மேளனம்

உதயன்

10 லட்சம் கையெழுத்துக்களைப் பெற்று கல்வித்துறையில் காணப்படும் பின்னடைவுகளை பொது மக்களுக்கு தெளிவுபடுத்தி அவர்களிடையே விழிப்புணர்ச்சியினை ஏற்படுத்த பல்கலைக்கழக விரிவுரையாளர்கள் தொழிற்சங்க சம்மேளனம் தீர்மானித்துள்ளது.    அதனடிப்படையில் கடந்த 4ம் திகதி தாம் ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்ட பணிப்பகிஷ்கரிப்பானது அவர்கள் முன்வைத்துள்ள கோரிக்கைகள் நிறைவேற்றப்படும் வரையில் விடப்போவதில்லை என சம்மேளனத்தின் தலைவர் கலாநிதி நிர்மால் ரஞ்ஜித் தேவசிறி தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.     சம்பள உயர்வு உள்ளிட்ட பல கோரிக்கைகளை முன்வைத்து பல்கலைக்கழக விரிவுரையாளர்கள் பணிப்பகிஷ்கரிப்பில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர்.    இருப்பினும் சம்பள உயர்வு தொடர்பில் எதிர்வரும் 12ம் திகதி ஜனாதிபதி செயலாளர் லலித் வீரதுங்கவுடன் பல்கலைக்கழக விரிவுரையாளர்கள் இரண்டாம் கட்டமாக  பேச்சுவார்த்தையினை மேற்கொள்ளவுள்ளனர்.    எனினும் இதற்கு முன்னரும் பல்கலைக்கழக கல்விசார் ஊழியர்கள் பணிப்பகிஷ்கரிப்பினை மேற்கொண்டிருந்தனர். எனினும் அரசின் வாக்குறுதிகளால் அவை தற்காலிகமாக நிறுத்தப்பட்டது.   அதன் பின்னரும் அவர்களது வாக்குறுதிகள் நிறைவேற்றப்படவில்லை இதனையடுத்து அவர்கள் மீண்டும் பணிப்பகிஷ்கரிப்பை நேற்று முன்தினம் முதல் ஆரம்பித்துள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Z Score: Delay in implementing SC directive queried

July 6, 2012, 9:45 pm 

By Saman Indrajith, the island

The main Opposition UNP queried in Parliament yesterday as to why the government authorities concerned were delaying the implementation of the Court ruling delivered on the 25th of last month with regard to the ‘Z-score’ crisis.

UNP National List MP D. M. Swaminathan, participating in an adjournment debate, said that it had resulted in a serious crisis.

"The scheme of allocating ‘Z-score’ has loomed into a colossal national problem today. The lethargic attitude of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education is the contributory factor for this national problem relating to results of last year’s GCE Advanced Level examination. It is very unfortunate that still a concrete decision has not been taken to solve this problem."

"The Supreme Court has given a brilliant judgement with regard to the ‘Z-score’ Scheme. I take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to the Supreme Court for its superb decision in this regard."

He said: "We all know that the future of our children depends mainly on their education. We cannot allow the education to be obliterated by the lethargic attitude of a few officers. This august House has a right to probe into this.

"The Supreme Court has ruled that the ‘Z-score’ should be evaluated separately based on the results of the students who sat for the GC.E Advanced Level Examination according to the old syllabus and the new syllabus.

"The Supreme Court held that injustices had been done to students who sat the examination based on two different categories of recommendations in respect of the ‘Z-score’ scheme. While adopting the new procedure, if university admission is denied to those who are already selected to enter universities based on the earlier evaluation, such denial cannot be tolerated. I call upon this House to mete out justice to them as well.

"The concern that should be addressed here is as to how long these committees, appointed by the government, will take to come out with their decisions. I request that steps be taken to resolve this problem as soon as practicable without wasting time.

"I wish to bring to the notice of this House that the ruling of the Court relating to the ‘Z-score’ was on the 25th of last month, there has been a delay in implementing same. It is the hapless students who are aggrieved by this. I request this House not to plunge them into darkness.

"Though it is more than two weeks since the judgment was delivered the Ministry of Higher Education, Department of Examinations and the University Grants Commission are jointly and severally shirking their responsibilities putting the blame on others, wasting time delaying their actions and appointing committees etc. I request to forgive and forget the mistakes unmindful of those who are accountable for same and come forward to implement at least the judgment of Court to enliven the life of these poor students.

"Every second delayed in implementing the judgment of the Court merely because of the authoritarian tussle of the ministers and higher authorities will erode the lives of these students. I wish to stress, at this point, that any further delay in finding a solution to this problem might cause a mighty agitation to flare up," the MP said.

FUTA to continue strike until demands are met

July 6, 2012, 10:22 pm 

By Harischandra Gunaratna, the island

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) President Dr Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri yesterday said that his association’s talks with President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga had not reached fruition. However, he said, Weeratunga had given the FUTA representatives a patient hearing unlike Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake, whom he accused of having a confrontational approach.

Dr. Devasiri said the FUTA would continue its on-going strike until its demands were met.

Sri Lanka’s education sector was facing a severe crisis and Higher Education Minister had to change his attitude, the FUTA president said, urging the government to get its priorities right. He said it now had to decide whether to invest in the loss incurring Mihin Lanka or in education.

Addressing a news conference at the National Library Services Auditorium in Colombo, Dr. Devasiri said: "The government is attempting to give a different interpretation to our struggle and it is resorting to cheap propaganda by enlisting the support of bankrupt trade unionists who talk out of turn and try to teach university teachers what to do."

Devasiri paid a tribute to one of the founders of the Communist party of Sri Lanka Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, whom he described as one of the few leaders who had understood the value of education.

Asked whether FUTA had faith in the government, Dr. Devasiri said going by the manner in which the powers that be handled the university issue, he did not think they were making a genuine effort to settle the dispute.

The FUTA president said the government kept on asking the masses to tighten their belts while increasing the salaries of parliamentarians, bureaucrats and their favourites. "There is so much corruption and waste in the government but when the university teachers request a salary increase or urge it to invest more in education, it tightens purse strings."

 "The government boasts that the country’s economy is expanding fast, but in the same breadth it claims that it cannot increase the salaries of university teachers," Dr. Devasiri said.

Universities paralysed by teachers’ strike

July 5, 2012, 12:00 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

Universities countrywide were paralysed for the second day yesterday due to the strike launched by lecturers demanding that the government allocate 6 per cent of GDP for the education sector, engages university teachers in the process of making decisions involving the higher education sector and grant a pay hike.

President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that all universities, except Uva-Wellassa, Kelaniya and the medical faculties, joined the strike.

"There are no trade unions in the newly formed Uva-Wellassa University, but now they are in a process of forming a teachers’ union," he said adding they too would join the strike soon.

Dr. Devasiri said that 60 teachers of the Kelaniya University had requested their union’s main body to join the strike and the union had decided to call a special committee meeting to discuss the matter.

Sources said the meeting would be held next Wednesday and the teachers would decide whether to join the strike or not.

Dr. Devasiri said that so far there had been no response from the government over university teachers’ ongoing trade union action.

When contacted by The Island, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that they were studying the FUTA’s proposals, submitted at the meeting held on Tuesday at the Presidential Secretariat.

"We will provide a solution at the next meeting scheduled to be held on July 12," he said.

Meanwhile, the Association of Law Teachers of the University of Colombo (ALTUC) has decided to launch a strike from July 11, 2012 in support of FUTA.

In a media statement, the ALTUC said yesterday that it fully endorsed the demands put forth by FUTA:

* State expenditure on education, including higher education, should be increased. Only then will the state education system be able to provide a high quality education to students.

* Salary issues of academics should be resolved. Unless this happens, the university system will not be able to retain academics of high caliber, and this will impact negatively on research and learning.

*         A Sri Lanka University Academic Service (SLUAS) should be established.

*         A consultative process, including opinions of the academic community, should be followed when deciding on the liberalization of higher education.

*         Autonomy of the university system should be guaranteed so that academics may function in an environment conducive to independent thought and meaningful research.

ALTUC has decided to launch a strike action with effect from 11th July 2012, in support of FUTA.

 

Jaffna docs on strike today

July 5, 2012, 12:00 pm 

By Don Asoka Wijewardena, the island

Around 350 doctors attached to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital will stage a token strike from 8.00 am. to 8.00 pm today in protest against the failure on the part of the police to arrest those responsible for the June 14 attack on Dr. Nadaraja Jayakumaran’s residence and alleged maladministration of the hospital.

According to the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), emergency services will not be disrupted.

The GMOA media spokesman, Dr. Navin de Soysa, told The Island that with the concurrence of the mother union, the GMOA branch union at the Jaffna hospital would launch the strike.

Jaffna hospital Consultant Oncologist Dr. Nadaraja Jayakumaran’s residence was attacked on June 14. He was also threatened. The police had not acted on his complaint, the GMOA spokesman said.

When contacted for comment Jaffna Teaching Hospital Director Dr. Ms. Bavani Pashupathyraja said that many OPD and Clinic patients would be affected due to the strike. Around 700 to 800 OPD and 2,000 patients visited clinics daily. "I have already informed the Director General of Health Services Dr. Ajith Mendis of the strike. It is my duty. But what the GMOA is doing is not acceptable in principle. Just because of police inefficiency and hospital maladministration, GMOA should not resort to trade union action. Matters of immediate concern can be sensibly settled."

She added that the Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Ananada Gunasekera had visited the hospital on July 2 and held a series of discussions with the GMOA members.

Government’s score on the Z-score

July 4, 2012, 7:08 pm ,the island

A controversy that rocked the ‘Education Boat’ for months is said to have been settled by the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Z-score case, but not before exposing many a growing mind to anxiety and retarding their A-Level studies seriously.

 To my knowledge, none of the Judges on the Bench was more of an expert in mathematics or management than the ones to which the ministers concerned had ready access. The Judges have objectively used their commonsense and come to a conclusion that was open to the authorities from the beginning. However, there may sometimes be decisions that call for expertise not available within the Bench. In such cases, it would be prudent to use judicial authority to direct the relevant experts to arrive at the optimum solution, without expressing a direct option.

 Why did the Executive make way for the result to be sealed with judicial authority in order to enable its implementation? It would be a sad day for the country, if it had to bear the cost and delay of litigation to get its administrative machinery to play its normal role. That predicament is nothing new.

It started during the time of former Chief Justice Sarath. N. Silva. Why did it become necessary to use the judicial arm of the government to push start its administrative machinery?

 Haste made waste

The answer lies in the dictatorial nature of our constitution. It has concentrated all executive power in the president in a way that there was no progress in a situation where the president fails to act or acts wrongly, except by way of recourse to the judiciary, that too, if the latter was not constrained by other draconian provisions of the constitution. In the present case, trouble started due to the undue haste to announce the selectees, along with the release of the results.

The government wanted to be one-up on the deal. Imaginably, it was a puerile, hasty step never tried before. Normally, results were announced first: Re-correction was allowed next and the results were announced weeks later, after working out the Z-scores leisurely. This time the situation was more complicated with the selections based on two parallel lists of candidates. In the ultimate analysis, the haste to jump over a few weeks made a waste of several months.

Whose fault?

The jubilant protesters now want the two ministers concerned to resign. They may have forgotten the news story prevalent at the time the results were released, that there were orders to release the results before the end of that week. The ministers bent over backwards to obey orders by engaging their fatigued staff to work overnight. That led to errors in calculations, in addition to the failure to make a cool, calculated decision after due consultations on merging the two lists. The resignations of the ministers may serve to pay off personal scores, but they would not cure the inherent maladies of the system. Perhaps the two ministers may make themselves more acceptable if they put themselves sincerely under a vow of silence. Apart from that, the prevailing system may not allow a difference, even with others in their places.

Further, the call to resign is based on the theory of ministerial responsibility. But is it fair to insist on it, in a system that does not guarantee minimum efficiency of ministerial staff? The Minister of Education has come up with several progressive proposals like the thousand super schools and revision of curricula, but he does not appear to have the administrative support to carry them through. Ministerial responsibility has to be coupled with management support.

Executive appointments

I have had occasion to personally observe how clumsily the Education Ministry worked. The setup has been recently shaken up by the appointment of a new secretary. But it appears that the policy of appointing the most senior officers of the SLAS has to be reviewed, in the light of expanding vistas of expertise. The UK, from which we copied the practice, has long ago taken action to mix administrators and technocrats as heads of their ministries, according to the workloads of the institutions. This tendency need not worry the SLAS overmuch. There are many other similar or even higher positions like Provincial Governors, in which its members could be placed appropriately with their expertise, yielding greater benefits to the country.

Education, with its ever advancing technology may function better under an eminent educationist. But paper qualifications alone do not appear to help, as the controversies at the Ministry of Higher Education may disclose. Subject competence needs to be matched with management ability, tact, sagacity and aptitude at the level of secretary. As the choice of its secretary has a dominant impact on the success of a ministry, it would be wise to give up the present practice of choosing secretaries on an ad hoc basis, depending on face value, seniority and favour. It would be in the national interest to set up a competent panel of advisers to pick out and train suitable men and women cut out for the job of secretary. In England, this function is discharged by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Civil Service Commissioners. Independent evaluation is all the more relevant in a setup where the selection of secretaries and similar high posts, does not come under the PSC.

Another shortcoming of our constitution is that it stifles initiative. Ministers tend to initiate action only on their pet proposals. They do not look out for matters surfacing elsewhere, where they could make positive contributions, independently. They await orders for action. That is a natural outcome of the subservient mindset created by the omnipotent presidency. For example, some constructive proposals made by the LLRC are such, that they could be easily implemented by concerned ministries, on their own. But they do not move a finger until they are directed to do so. In the meantime, all these matters get clogged up at the top and much time is lost in the process of sorting them out and referring them for action downstairs. The end result is delay and tardiness in catering to the needs of the public.

Preview of executive action

Yet another danger inherent in an all powerful Presidency is the absence of effective review of decisions made at the top. Ministers are reluctant to speak out even when they disagree with the President for fear of losing favour or even their jobs. This results in blind implementation of un-scrutinized whims and fancies without more, as in the Z-score case. As the system does not let itself to proper collective review by the Cabinet, it would be wise for the President to act only after the relevant proposal had been tested and found feasible by an advisory body.

It is true that the president already has a galaxy of advisors, but they too appear to be inhibited by personal reasons in playing their role effectively. The Queen of England acts only on advice. Her advice comes from the all powerful Cabinet of Ministers. Under our constitution, the cabinet does not enjoy that kind of independence and initiative. In the circumstance, it would be in his own interests for the president also to make up his mind to act only on advice, and if the advisers are not ‘yes men’ seeking to feather their own nests, the need to resort to the judiciary for redress against executive action, is bound to be minimized.

Appointing counselors for the ruler is not a novel idea. It has its origins in the ‘Purohitas’ of yore. A king was appointed for hereditary reasons and there was no guarantee that he had the wisdom to rule faultlessly. The institution of ‘Purohita’ was devised to meet that contingency. The best brains in the land were selected for the post and history and folklore are full of instances where kings ruled righteously for long years under the advice of their ‘Purohitas’.

The ‘Ummagga Jatakaya’ refers to King Videha taking counsel. Videha had five counselors, but even at that time, four of them were time-seeking sycophants, whose folly got the king into trouble. His life was saved thanks to the genius of his youngest counselor, Mahausada. In ‘Kekille’, folklore portrays the folly of a king who acts impulsively at the spur of the moment, without consultation.

A Panel of ‘Purohitas’

Under democracy, rulers are elected more for their public appeal than for their brains. They too need reliable counselors to keep them in power. That need appears to be getting more and more urgent at present under the developing political climate. At long last the opposition appears to be getting its act together. Public protests are on the increase, with students and trade unions coming out readily to register their grievances. The cost of living is rising steeply, and even the elements appear to be on a war path. Economic recession is fast spreading its tentacles.

This situation may not improve with time. The chances are that it may go from bad to worse. A realistic appreciation of this trend should lead to prompt stocktaking and have in place precautionary preventive measures. That calls for meticulous circumspection and preview in governance. That is where an advisory ‘Think Tank’ may help to steer the government out of trouble. The wishful advice of circles of affinity in such a situation may be reassuring, but rarely dependable. What is called for is a Panel of ’ to preview decisions before they are passed down for implementation, for as it is, the system has no mechanism to check and balance them thereafter.

Let not the ‘Purohitas’ be another hired set of card-carrying VIPs. They should be an informal panel of dependable volunteers, who would be consulted confidentially as and when necessary. The greatest beneficiary of this evaluation would be the president himself, as it would guarantee the quality and the accuracy of his decisions, leaving little room for judicial intervention or political loss.

Somapala Gunadheera

Prof. Thattil heads govt. ‘Z-score’ committee

July 5, 2012, 7:09 am 

By Saman Indrajith, the island

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayaka told Parliament yesterday that a three-member expert committee headed by Prof. R. O. Thattil, of the University of Peradeniya, had been appointed to advise the University Grants Commission (UGC) on how to implement the Supreme Court directive on the calculation of the Z score. The minister said Vice Chancellor of the Peradeniya University, Prof A. Epasinghe was another member of the committee. The third member wasn’t named.

 "The UGC is working expeditiously to implement the Court’s directive and I can assure you that university admission will begin without delay once this matter is sorted out," the Minister said in response to a statement made by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Supreme Court last week 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 Opposition Leader in his statement welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.

The ruling given by the Supreme Court for rectifying injustices caused to the children owing to separate Z score calculations for the two syllabi should be appreciated. It had opened an opportunity to rectify the injustices caused by the government, Ministers and those who are responsible," Wickremesinghe said, requesting the government to take immediate action to adopt measures to prevent injustice being caused to any students who had been selected to the university as a result of the erroneous Z-Score.

Expert Comm. appointed to advise UGC on ‘Z-score’ - SB

July 4, 2012, 12:00 pm 

By Saman Indrajith, the island

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissnayaka told Parliament yesterday that a three-member expert committee had been appointed to advise the University Grants Commission (UGC) on how to implement the directive of the Supreme Court on the calculation of the Z score.

"The UGC is working expeditiously to implement the Court’s directive and I can assure your that university admission will begin without delay once this  matter is sorted out," the Minister said in response to a statement made by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Supreme Court last week ordered that the Z-score be calculated separately for students who sat for the GCE (A/L) examination under the new and old syllabi in 2011.

The Opposition Leader in his statement welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.

"The ruling given by the Supreme Court for rectifying the injustice caused to the children through separate Z score calculations for the two syllabi should be appreciated. It has opened an opportunity to rectify the injustices caused by the Government, Ministers and those who are responsible," Wickremesinghe said.

He noted that now another group of students were undergoing injustices due to the conceited and baseless measures followed by the Government and Ministers, i. e. the students who qualified for admission to the universities through those erroneous Z-score calculations.

He requested the government to take immediate action to introduce measures which would cause no injustice to any students who had been selected to the university as a result of the erroneous Z-Score.