Govt. to back private unis, won’t privatise state ones

SundayTimes
The issue of private universities came up in Parliament on Wednesday, when the votes of the Ministry of Higher Education were taken up for debate. Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka said that Government would encourage private higher educational institutions, but would not privatise State-owned universities.

“Of the 150,000 students who qualify for higher education in this country, only around 20,000 can find placements within State universities. It is the responsibility of the Government to find them educational opportunities in the country,” he said.

The Minister added that Sri Lankan students were going to countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan for medical studies, as there is resistance to private medical colleges within the country. “Not one, but we need two, three or four private medical colleges in Sri Lanka,” he said.

UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe said that his party would not object to the setting up of private universities, but oppose the lack of transparency in the procedure adopted by the Government in this regard.
“It is ironic that, those who once spoke against private education, are now speaking in support of it,” he said.
JVP MP Anura Dissanayaka who spoke during the debate, accused the Government of setting up private universities, and attempting to cripple the State ones. “The Government needs to invest money in State universities,” he said.

Does Grade 5 scholarship exam show academic superiority?

November 23, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island


by Douglas King

President Mehinda Rajapaksa has a justifiable goal of Sri Lanka becoming an "educational hub" in this region of Asia in a similar way that Singapore achieved. The President has taken initiatives in several areas of education that may sow the seeds towards his vision. The "Year of English and IT" which he kick started has long gone and in the opinion of some educators, little has changed in the way English is taught or practised. The President is now embarking on a far reaching goal of updating 1000 secondary schools. Only time will tell whether Sri Lanka will be recognised as having "World Class" education.

The annual grade five Scholarship examination is now firmly embedded in the educational year timetable. Theoretically, to justify this major country wide test being foisted upon more than 300,000 nine and ten year old children, the results should identify the academically most gifted students and predict their success through school, university and beyond.

Several factors have inspired me to make some basic research into the validity of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination which has become a vital aspect of the education system. Three very different incidents have come into my purview. A middle income neighbour of mine was very disappointed several years ago when his son scored less than 100 in the examination despite scholarship tuition classes twice weekly for 18 months. The local primary school he attended had also intensified similar test paper revision for students in grade 4 and 5. It was difficult enough for the parents to cope with such failure but the effect on their son was more severe and he refused to attend school for the following 3 weeks after receiving the result. By contrast another neighbour, a daily labourer and very low income, was both astounded and gratified that his son scored 171 and in the top five percentile in the country. In this case the boy had not attended any extra private tuition classes. A third occurrence is that of a recent university graduate who I know very well. He is among the brightest and most able and intelligent young men I have met and is well on his way to post graduate education or a well paid career with a large business. His scholarship score in 1999 was well below 100.

Highly competitive

In October 2010 Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena announced that the government was considering shifting the Grade 5 scholarship examination to Grade 7 to reduce the pressure on students. The Minister went on to say that medical specialists who attended the consultative committee meeting of the Education Ministry considered that the Grade 5 scholarship examination placed an undue burden on children at a tender age.

"The Grade 5 Scholarship exam is a highly competitive Sri Lankan examination conducted by the Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education. Based on the results of the exam, students could transfer to prominent national schools. This Exam is a means for gifted students from villages to move to better schools with government scholarships. Annually, cut-off marks are set by the Ministry of Education based on demand for individual schools." Most primary schools add extra lesson periods for students to practise past examination papers. In addition many students attend private tuition classes practising the same tests. Every parent likes to enroll their child to a popular good school in major cities and hope that their child will obtain a high mark in Grade 5 Scholarship examination.

Over 300,000 children are entered for the grade 5 scholarship examination every year. In 2004 approximately 7% obtained marks above the cut off and around half of these were below the income level necessary to receive bursaries, so approximately 8,000 received bursaries out of the 300,000 who sat the examination. The Mean mark was 38%. It is unlikely that subsequent years reflected major changes in these statistics. Despite the Scholarship examination occupying such an important part in the education system, it has not been possible to find any published research on the subject.

The Scholarship examination questions and format are planned to identify the children that are well above average intelligence and who are considered best able to take advantage of the higher academic standards in certain schools. Eight years further down the education road and only students who score very highly in "A" level examinations, and thus the coveted "Z" score, gain a place in one of the government universities. There should be a positive correlation between the grade 5 scholarship results and Z scores. A survey of 100 students at University of Peradenya shows some interesting statistics.

Year 1998/9 62 students

6 scored higher than the cut off mark of 135 1 scored 180 and the remaining 5 scored within the 135-145 range 16 scored less than 100 2 scored 51 or 69 35 scored between 100-135 and therefore failed to pass. Only 1 student scored high enough to be admitted to one of the very popular 20 boys’ schools.

Year 2000 cut off mark 146 37 students

14 scored less than 100 4 passed the cut off mark with the highest being 168 19 scored between 100 and 146 and therefore failed to pass.

The marks were given voluntarily by students on pieces of paper and did not identify their names so an assumption can be made that these are accurate with only a small margin of error due to memory. A student gaining a university place implies a very high "Z" score and should indicate very high ability and intellect. Yet to a great extent their performance at the grade 5 scholarship examination does not indicate any academic superiority.

Further research

Further research was made on the 3 years scholarship examination results of 80 grade five students at a popular semi-urban primary school. In the most recent year, 2012, only 1 student qualified for a place in one of the top boys’ schools. 30% of students scored less than 100 marks (38% of total marks). 13 (16%) passed the cut off of 142 of which approximately 50% (6) were below the income level to receive financial bursaries.

The results for the years 2010 and 2011 are similar and show less than 5% variations.

Several years of extra scholarship classes at the school and similar extra classes at tuition centres for 80 children results in only 1 child achieving entry into one of the coveted 20 urban schools, and 6 children entitled to financial assistance. To add a necessary extra dimension to this research requires a follow up of those students who are the "heroes" of the examination.

In a recent article by Carmen Wickramagamage she writes "Every year, around this time, the Lankan media become engrossed with a phenomenon that I find distressing, if not downright annoying: the parade on TV and newspapers of the supposed high achievers at the Grade V Scholarship Exam. This year is no different and we have already been treated to the photographs, interviews and life stories of these kids flanked by their proud parents and/or teachers. Every year the phenomenon irritates me. It irritates me because the publicity only encourages an already skewed education system: the race to be first, the race to get perfect scores or grades at exams at the expense of everything else that formal school-based education is supposed to be about:"

Select school children

There are 20 "select" boys’ schools and 20 "select" girls’ schools which in total offer around 5000 places in their grade 6 classes. Some obscure evaluation system ranks these schools according to the level of marks required for entry. Thus the schools at the top of the list may require 170+ and those at the bottom of the list 160+. Some of these schools have primary classes and entry at grade one is based on locality and not academic selection. How do these students compare with the "scholarship" entrants when they receive their "A" level results?

The research identified in this article is only on a small scale and a larger sample is necessary to be sure that the results can be generalised. However, it does raise some serious questions as to the purpose and validity of the scholarship examination. The majority of children "fail" to achieve the cut off point and even if the word "fail" is not used, the reality cannot be avoided. Numerous well meaning parents subject their children to unnecessary stress through private tuition classes, spending money they can ill afford in the very remote possibility of achieving a high score.

What does the scholarship examination test? Is it a test of IQ or a test of rote learning? Does it really identify intellectual superiority? Do all these numerous extra classes benefit the children or only the teachers? How many people now in top positions in government or private corporations achieved higher than the cut off mark, or how many scored less than 100? What happened to those 5000 students who achieved the highest marks in the country? Certainly a lot more research needs to be done to answer these questions? As a step towards the President’s goal of Sri Lanka boasting a world-class education system, the necessity and desirability of the scholarship examination needs serious consideration.

(The writer could be contacted at douglasking1939@yahoo.com)

Most universities fail to answer audit queries

November 23, 2012, 10:11 pm

by Dasun Edirisinghe, The Island

Most of the universities have not answered audit queries during the last few years. This had been noticed by the Parliamentary watchdog, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

Universities and Higher Educational Institutions, coming under the University Grants Commission (UGC) met the COPE during last three weeks.

Sources said that each university had an audit committee and they met at least four times a year to answer audit queries.

"The Peradeniya University did not answer 189 audit queries during the 2009 /2010 period," a high ranking official of the university sector told The Island on condition of anonymity.

He said that Sabaragamuwa University too, was badly exposed at the COPE hearing for ignoring audit queries.After the COPE advised the administrators of those universities on their responsibility, they were now correcting their grave lapses, he said. When contacted for comment, UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said that there had to be accountability in universities as they dealt with public money.

He said that the financial auditing helped to mitigate waste and corruption, but, academic auditing was also very important for the universities.

"Universities in other countries, including those in India, had academic activities too under auditing," Prof. Samaranayake said.

He said that they wanted to establish good governance in the universities.

A Way forward

Global higher education system and the proposed knowledge hub for Sri Lanka:

November 22, 2012, 12:00 pm , the island


Speech delivered by Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Chairman, University Grants Commission, at the AGMof the Sri Lanka Quantity Surveyors Association in Dubai

Continued from Midweek Review

on 21. 12. 2012

To accommodate an increased demand of university education ad hoc measures such as creating another Faculty of Arts in Colombo and a Faculty of Science in Peradeniya was taken by the government. By 1970 the number of universities increased to five and by 1978 there were seven universities in the country. The rest were established after 1994.

The number of students entering higher education thus increased form 1612 in 1948, to 5000 in 1959, to about 14,000 in 1970 and 17, 449 student enrolments in 1978. By 1988/89 there were 29,781 students internally in university education. At present, 80, 000 students are in universities. Annually about 13,000 internal graduates pass out from universities and more than 50 percent of them are from the Arts and management streams. The output of external graduates is around 6,500 and the Open University too has an output of about 500 per year. Thirty years ago 70 percent of the student population was admitted to the faculties of Social Sciences and Humanities. In addition, since 1962, there has been a system of external examinations in university education and almost 200,000 students are registered with the eleven universities in the country.

Currently, there are 14 conventional universities, three campuses, one open university, 9 undergraduate and 7 post-graduate institutes, 9 degree awarding institutes under the purview of the University Grants Commission. Besides, there are two religious universities under the Ministry of Higher Education. There is one university under the Ministry of Defense, and one under the Ministry of Vocational Training. Thus, there are 19, universities have been engaged providing higher education under the principle of Free Education since 1945. Almost, 80,000 students are studying at our universities. Another, more than 150, 000 students are there as external students. The exact statistics are not available regarding the number of students in universities overseas. According to estimates of the UGC nearly 8000-10000 students leave the country for higher education annually.

Issues and Challenges

The biggest challenge facing our university education is offering equity in access and quality of education. In 2010, 54,000 have applied for 22,000 placements at our universities. The Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) the ratio of students enrolled in higher education to the size of the age cohort between 18 to 24 is close upon 16 per cent. The UGC is planning to increase the GER up to 20 per cent in 2016 and 30 per cent in 2020. It is essential to have the GER to level of 20 per cent to move to a knowledge economy.

The challenge before us is to increase access to higher education while improving the quality of education to suit the demands of the new millennium. The answer lies in changing the traditional model of teaching and learning measured by where we study and what we learned. New pressures such as alignment of industry and the demand of the workforce, the move to mass education, a geographically fluid workforce and mass communication have exacerbated the need to move away from rote learning to competency based education. Therefore, we need to redefine our programs to provide competencies for a new generation of learners.

The state monopoly in higher education has come under increasing pressure as the state has not been able to keep pace with the demand for higher education and diversify and increase access and quality at the same time. We at the UGC are grappling with issues of expanding access and quality and it is well known fact that the state cannot allocate the financial resources required to meet these challenges and neither can the country find the human resources required to increase quality.

Given the rapidly changing context globally as well as within Sri Lanka the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC are compelled to rethink its policies and strategies and as I said before forecast change and plan for change. If not we are left behind and the forces of change will continue in an unplanned and unregulated environment which is not conducive for the development of the country. Establishing Sri Lanka as a knowledge hub in South Asia is one such that is being explored.

Knowledge Hub

A Knowledge Hub is broadly defined as a designated region intended to attract foreign investment, retain local students, build a regional reputation by providing access to high-quality education and training for both international and domestic students, and create a knowledge-based economy. A knowledge hub is concerned with the process of building up a country’s capacity to better integrate it with the world’s increasing knowledge based economy, while simultaneously exploring policy options that have the potential to enhance economic growth. An education hub can include different combinations of domestic/international institutions, branch campuses, and foreign partnership, within the region. The main functions of hubs are to generate, apply, transfer, and disseminate knowledge.

The concept of a knowledge hub for Sri Lanka was proposed by HE the President Mahinda Rajapaksa through his policy document during the presidential election in 2009. It is stated that Sri Lanka will "develop youth who can see the world over the horizon". "We have the opportunity to make this country a knowledge hub within the South Asia region. I will develop and implement an operational plan to make this country a local and international training centre for knowledge".

The Ministry of Higher Education is grappling with the empirical implications of translating this promise into reality. The Ministry has invited foreign universities to set up campuses to provide a more diversified higher Education programme to increase access for local students and to attract students from overseas to study in Sri Lanka. Just as in Singapore Sri Lanka’s strategy is to piggy- back on internationally renowned universities so that the process is cost effective and mutually beneficial. Furthermore, it is planned that 10 branch campuses of "world class" universities would be established by 2013. The Knowledge Hub Agenda has given greater prominence especially to the fields of Science and Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Skills Development, and Research and Development in Applied Sciences.

Malaysia is the first country in Asia that has strategically established itself as a knowledge hub admitting 100,000 overseas students, although the university education in Malaysia was introduced far later than Sri Lanka. It has a clear strategy to consolidate as an international hub for post graduate studies. Another successful hub is Hong Kong although its catchment area is more Southeast Asia than South Asia. Other countries such as India, Singapore, Viet Nam and Thailand are aspiring to establish a knowledge hub in their respective regions. India, attracts a 100,000 students annually while Hong Kong, attracts 5,823, China 162,895, and Singapore 72,000 overseas students annually. Sri Lanka has a projected target of attracting 10,000 foreign students by 2014 which would increase to 100,000 by 2020.

Advantages

Sri Lanka enjoys several advantages to develop into an education hub. First, of all the ever increasing demand for higher education in the country is an impetus for growth and advancement. Annually, well over 250,000 students sit for the Advanced Level Examination and half of them are qualified for university education. However, only 22,000 are able to enter university education in the country. Of them, 9000 enroll in vocational training through 12 Advanced Technological Institutes, 20,000 enroll at the Open University, 8000, access overseas education, 20,000 register as external candidates while 9000 are studying for a foreign degree via cross border institutes. Nearly, 60,000 students are looking for alternative higher education locally.

To be Continued on Saturday

Pera U’grads protest against ‘leadership’ training

November 22, 2012, 9:35 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Undergraduates, of the Peradeniya University, protested at the Galaha Junction, blocking the Colombo – Kandy road, against the leadership training programme for university freshers.

President of the Students’ Council Janaka Madushan told The Island that the government was now putting new undergraduates through military training claiming it was leadership training.

He said that several students were injured during last year’s training, but the government did not compensate them.

"We marched from the University to Galaha junction and held a demonstration there," Madushan said adding that they would continue this protest with other universities joining in.

The Higher Education Ministry had planned to commence the leadership training programme, for the next batch of university entrants on Dec. 27 at 25 centres countrywide.

Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that this year, the leadership training programme had to be postponed twice, in May and November, due to university teachers demanding that it be delayed until they submitted their recommendations.

"We planned to start this year’s leadership training programme in three batches consisting of 9,000 students each," Dr. Navaratne said.

He added that this time 26,721 students would undergo the leadership training programme in military and police establishments countrywide from Dec. 27 to Jan. 13.

"We consulted Vice Chancellors and faculty boards of all universities before deciding on the dates for this year’s programme," Dr. Navaratne said adding they made several changes in the programme following VCs comments.

UGC says ‘no pay’ circular stands
FUTA members already paid for strike days

November 22, 2012, 10:59 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Although the UGC has decided against abolishing the controversial circular No. 890 of June 7, 2007, which deprives university employees of their salaries during a strike, the university teachers, who struck work for one hundred days at a stretch, from July 04, have already been paid their salaries for that period, The Island learns.

The university teachers were paid their salaries for more than three months, in spite of their strike, in keeping with an agreement between the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The abolition of eight circulars including No. 890 is one of FUTA’s main demands.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, contacted for comment, confirmed that university teachers had already been paid their salaries for the period between July 04 and Oct. 12.

Asked whether the FUTA would object to the UGC’s decision to retain the controversial circular, Dr. Dewasiri said a decision on that matter would be taken at the FUTA Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 29.

Having suspended the 100-day-long strike, consequent to an agreement with the government, the FUTA said that the government would have to face the consequences if the latter failed to honour its promises.

Universities in crisis - Kabir

Security officer paid Rs. 93,000 but a don only Rs. 45,000

November 22, 2012, 7:03 am , The Island

by Saman Indrajith

Former Tertiary Education Minister, UNP Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim, yesterday charged that the University Grants Commission (UGC) was interfering with everything in the higher education sector but had failed to perform the duties entrusted to it.

Taxes on a Lamborghini amounted to around Rs. 125 million and they had been waived, the MP said. "That amount alone is sufficient to cover the university students’ scholarship expenditure for one year. The university teachers’ struggle for a better pay is very reasonable.

An officer in charge of Rakna Lanka security services in universities draws a monthly salary of Rs. 93,000 while a university lecturer draws only a monthly salary of Rs. 45, 000," MP Hashim said.

Speaking during the committee stage of the budget debate on the Ministry of Higher Education, Hashim lamented that the funds allocated from the budget for the higher education sector were not sufficient to ensure the smooth functioning of the universities. "Only Rs 1,000 million has been allocated for the higher education sector from this budget. This amount will not be sufficient to increase the salaries of university teachers. The government has allocated only 2.4 percent of the GDP for education. Thus, it shows that the struggle, the university teachers engaged in, has not yielded the desired results and it could be predicted that there will be more agitations," he said.

University dons lose pay for 100 days

November 21, 2012, 10:45 pm , the island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The University Grants Commission (UGC) yesterday declared that Circular 890 of 7th June, 2007, which stipulates that workers are not entitled to salaries during their strikes couldn’t be rescinded under any circumstances.

A senior UGC official was responding to the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) demand that circular in question be repealed in keeping with the agreement university teachers had entered into with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The FUTA is pushing for the removal of eight circulars.

The official told The Island that of them, three would be rescinded shortly, whereas two could only be amended. According to him, a decision couldn’t be taken on the remaining two circulars without consulting the Labour Commissioner and the Treasury.

Having suspended its 100-day-long strike, the FUTA warned that the government would have to face the consequences in case of its failure to honour its promises. The UGC said that a committee had inquired into the FUTA’s demands and examined the issues at hand closely before a decision was taken not to do away with Circular 890 of 7th June, 2007.

The UGC is of the view that there is no reason to rescind the circular No. 890 which dealt with trade union action. According to the circular, employees would not be paid for the days they were on strike.

A senior UGC official pointed out that it was a recommendation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Supreme Court did not grant leave to proceed when the validity of circular No. 890 was challenged before it by a trade union.

The UGC had decided to refer the issues raised with regard to circular No. 955 of 28th April, 2011 on reckoning of allowances for the purpose of computation of Universities Provident Fund, Employees Trust Fund and Payment of Gratuity and circular No. 990 of 31st July, 2012 on payment of a research allowance to the academic staff who are on study leave, to the General Treasury and the Commissioner General of Labour for approval, Prof. Samaranayake said.

He said the UGC had also decided to refer the issues raised with regard to circular no. 805 of 10th July 2002 on utilization of income derived from violation of agreements and bonds entered into with universities by teachers who have hone on study to the Treasury for its observations.

Circulars No. 896 of 8th July 2008 on sabbatical leave to teachers and officers and No. 959 of 12th July 2011 on granting study leave to teachers have been amended.

AUGC letter dated Nov. 22, 2010 on unauthorized media presence at universities/higher educational institutions had been withdrawn, Prof. Samaranayake said, adding that the circular No. 956 of May 3, 2011 on clarification regarding the position of the head of department of study in universities, campuses and the heads of departments in higher educational institutions had already been withdrawn by letter dated July 25, 2011, he said, noting that establishment circular letter No. 10/2011 of May 6, 2011 on the same subject had also been withdrawn. The circular No. 991 of August 6, 2012 on the UGC nominees appointed to serve on the selection committees had been withdrawn, he said.

The UGC informed all Vice Chancellors, Rectors of the Campuses and Directors of the Higher Educational Institutes of its decision in a letter with copies to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary of the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne and FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri.

When contacted for comment, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri said that he had received the copy of the letter, which he said would be discussed by the FUTA Executive Committee shortly.

Jumbos woo FUTA dissidents

November 18, 2012, 12:00 pm


by Dasun Edirisinghe. the island

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reiterated the UNP’s support to the university teachers in their ongoing struggle in the education sector. At a meeting held at the Colombo Mayor’s official residence, the UNP leader lambasted the government for failing to address problems in the education sector. From left (Sagala Ratnayaka, Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Kabir Hashim and Ranil Wickremesinghe(Pic by Nimal Dayaratne)

Having decided to form an association of university teachers affiliated to the UNP, the party leadership yesterday initiated a dialogue with a section of university dons.

A delegation led by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe met a group of university teachers at the Colombo Mayor’s residence.

Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MPs Mangala Samaraweera, Kabeer Hashim, Ravi Karunanayake and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam took part in discussions. Kurunegala District MP Kariyawasam told The Island that more than 50 university teachers had participated in the discussion to work out a plan to win their legitimate demands. The two sides would meet again soon to finalize their plans, he said.

Kariyawasam quoted some of those teachers, involved in the discussion, as having said that the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) had betrayed their struggle to win their demands including a pay hike recently.

They had alleged that FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri was taken for a ride by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa to call off the 100-day strike on Oct. 12, and the government had reneged on its promises.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said that the decision to resume work had been a collective decision.

Waste and corruption in the university system

The Care of Children – 18

November 18, 2012, 12:00 pm

By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, The Island

I have been wondering for some time about whether this column should also deal with the problems of university students. Last week, having found myself by far the oldest among the Sri Lankan delegates to a Conference on Indo-Sri Lankan relations held at Osmania University, and older too than most of the Indian participants, I realized I had to accept I was clearly of an age to think of university students, and indeed many lecturers, as children in need of care.

This feeling was exacerbated by the excellence of the presentations by the younger participants at the Conference. Whilst some older lecturers seemed to content themselves with jargon, the session I chaired had two very bright girls from Jawaharlal Nehru University who produced excellent and very practical papers on the Sri Lankan diaspora. They however were postgraduates, and from a place I have long known as a centre of excellence, admission to which is highly competitive. To my surprise they were equaled by two undergraduates from Patna University, who did a precise and well argued presentation on Indo-Sri Lankan trade relations.

I cannot imagine many Sri Lankan students doing as well. This is not because they are not equally capable. The problem is that we hardly stretch them, with many lecturers in many departments thinking that reading out notes to be copied constitutes teaching.

Of course there are exceptions, and I can think of at least two universities, and several faculties, the products of which are as good as those from Indian universities. But one of the universities that is of high quality is the Kotelawala Defence University, and it is precisely because its staff as well as its students are not allowed to sink into complaisance that its students have improved in quality.

Sinking lower

Peradeniya, on the contrary, seems to sink lower and lower with every passing year. The second immediate reason for my worries about what our students are getting is that, on the two days before I left for Hyderabad, I attended sessions of the First COPE Sub-Committee, which now looks at academic institutions. One reason however that one should not complain too much, is that for almost all the time spent inquiring of seven institutions in the two days,

I was the only person present apart from the Chairman. If our legislators do not care enough to try to ensure that students get value for the public money spent on them, I suppose we cannot really expect university administrators or lecturers to care either.

Ultimately we will only achieve accountability if we ensure that information is made available to all stakeholders, and they are given the right to question. Students should not be decision makers, but their views must be considered, and I have long argued that they should be given access to university accounts. When I first made this suggestion a decade back, the then Chairman of the UGC told me that they were accountable to Parliament, which I did not think adequate. Having seen how COPE functions – and it clearly does much more now under the Chairmanship of D E W Gunasekara than it has done for decades – I now know this is not adequate.

I was delighted that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Peradeniya also advocated this, perhaps because he too was in despair about what had been going on at the University. He and the new Registrar seem to be trying to set things to rights but, for the first time in looking at University accounts, it seemed to me that there were clear indications of fraud and corruption. Previously – with one institution attached to Colombo being an exception, about which the Vice-Chancellor agreed that crookedness seemed obvious – the worst we could be sure of was incompetence. Here clearly the incompetence, if that was all it was, was culpable. The idea that sub-standard furniture should be accepted because buildings had to be equipped in a hurry was for instance totally unacceptable. It must have been obvious to anyone, certainly including those waiting to place more orders, that beds which shook when they were received would soon collapse under student usage.

But as bad was the failure to ensure that students were actually taught. The schedule of lecture hours by all academic staff that COPE had had to ask for (since clearly no one with administrative authority had thought of this before) had not been looked at by the Peradeniya administration. We had to instruct the UGC Chairman to send the schedule to all universities, asking them to study it and send back a report on how they would ensure that lecturers actually did what they were supposed to do, and were held accountable for the public money they absorbed.

Sheer absurdity

The sheer absurdity of what many of our universities do became obvious to me during the last few weeks, during which I found Divisional Secretariats packed with graduates who have been recruited with no clear understanding of what they were supposed to do. Some of them had given up proper jobs because of the government indulgence they greedily grasped, but I suppose government thought it had no alternative since so many others were otherwise unemployable.

Sadly it has not occurred to any government that the obvious alternative is to make educational institutions target employability, with full accountability for their activities.

One bright young Divisional Secretary told me that, having tried to identify talents amongst those entrusted to him, so he could make gainful use of them, he found almost all without the capacity to work productively. He was a product himself of a Faculty that many years ago the Chairman of the UGC described as the cutting edge of the University system, and I could understand this, having realized his competence, as that of another Secretary from the same Faculty, one Tamil, one Sinhalese. But unless we try more intelligently to replicate this, we will simply be wasting public money.