News
Higher education in crisis: Academics claim deficiencies deepen at state universities
View(s):By Nidarshani Wickramasinghe
Due to the brain drain of lecturers, poor facilities and other issues, state universities are in crisis, placing the entire higher education system at risk of imminent collapse, academics claim.
The issues were brought up during the one-day token strike by the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) this week.
FUTA claimed that there does not appear to be any intereston the part of the authorities, including Higher Education Minister Harini Amarasuriya.
-
- Prof Ruchika Fernando
-
- Prof Prageeth Weerathunga
-
- Madushan Chandrajith
-
- Charudaththa Illangasinghe
FUTA also warned that if a satisfactory solution is not presented by President Anura Dissanayake, they will have no alternative but to resort to extreme trade union action.
FUTA President Professor Prageeth Weerathunga told the Sunday Times that although nine months had passed, a solution had not been forthcoming. He noted that although the federation had been asking for a meeting with President Dissanayake for more than a month, there had been no answer.
He said that if the President failed to provide an equitable solution, lecturers would be left with no choice but to resort to stern action.
FUTA said that although university lecturers worked day and night to help bring the present government to power, the government had failed to implement the long-awaited educational reforms.
FUTA Secretary and Media Spokesperson, senior lecturer Charudaththa Illangasinghe, noted that while the university system ought to have about 12,000 lecturers, only about 5,000 are currently in service. He went on to reveal that in the University of Peradeniya alone, about 200 lecturers had already left.
Detailing this, Professor Prageeth Weerathunga said, “There is an acute lack of facilities such as lecture halls, laboratories and canteens. In addition to that, the salaries of lecturers were cut down under the 2025 salary revision, even going down below the earlier level. The university system is breaking down, and so far no solutions have been suggested.
“We hope that within the next week the President will meet us. If not, and if no equitable solution is forthcoming, all university teachers will take a strong decision. We do not wish to shut down universities or disrupt academic work, but we will be compelled to warn society through social media about the seriousness of this crisis. If this continues in another five years’s time, the higher education system in Sri Lanka will fall to the same low level it is in India.’’
He also noted that new lecturers are meant to focus on research, yet most are compelled to do administrative work as well.
“Under these circumstances, we will progressively disengage from administrative duties. Lecturers do a great deal of work. We will refuse even to take calls at night. Parliament is full of academics and professors, but none of them speaks for us. We do not wish to engage the students directly in our struggle, or the government will accuse us of using them as hostages,” he said.
Prof Weerathunga said that while the University Grants Commission (UGC) provides the admission lists, registration and related activities are done by lecturers in universities. “A decision should be taken based on the current crisis whether to register new student intakes,” he said.
President of the Peradeniya University Teachers’ Association, Prof Ruchika Fernando, said that with the government’s ‘distorted policies’, the university system could be driven to collapse for the next 30-40 years.
“In the five years from 2020 to 2025, around 100 lecturers have left faculties such as dental science, allied health science, medicine, agriculture, science and veterinary medicine.
“A few more have left engineering, arts and management. Around 800 would have been recruited in this time but were not. Faculties are supposed to have five sets of students, but most now have six. In medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, there is supposed to be one lecturer for seven students in terms of UGC norms, but this has now doubled,’’ he said.
“No new appointments for nearly five years now, even though the student population has increased. If low- or barely qualified staff are hired quickly to fill the gap, the entire system will weaken. High-quality academics will simply leave when low-quality academics are appointed, accelerating the implosion,’’ he said.
FUTA launched a one-day token strike in all universities on September 30, disrupting lectures and other academic work. The strike demanded solutions for the brain drain of lecturers, non-recruitment, salary issues, poor facilities, and inadequate funds for research.
FUTA once again pointed out that although numerous meetings have been held with government officials, a solution acceptable to them has not been proposed as yet. Lecturers also protested in front of universities today.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!