Strict standards to be introduced for private universities
View(s):The Sub-Committee on Higher Education under the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, which met recently in Parliament, has decided to approve the introduction of stricter standards and monitoring of non-governmental universities.
The Sub-Committee, chaired by Deputy Education Minister Madhura Senevirathna, approved new policies to be introduced regarding entry requirements, lateral entry (which allows students to join degree programmes in the 2nd or 3rd year based on prior qualifications), and revoking of registrations of non-governmental universities.
The policies were drafted by the National Higher Education Policy Committee.
For state universities, there is already a comprehensive regulatory mechanism, where quality assurances and benchmarks are monitored. However, there is no such mechanism for non-governmental universities, some of which are not even legally registered, Deputy Minister Senevirathna told Education Times. The new changes will ensure that non-governmental universities too are subjected to a strong regulatory mechanism, he added.
“We are introducing minimum entry requirements in order to ensure equal opportunities to students,” he said.
As part of the new policies, non-government universities can expect strict monitoring of their level of human resources, lab facilities and lecturer to student ratio, among others. There will be benchmarks that need to be met, while the quality of lecturers will also be monitored.
Under the new policy, universities found to have fallen behind the benchmarks that have been set will first be given a one-year grace period to rectify issues, failing which, their registration will be revoked.
Students will be afforded more protection, enabling them to choose a university that has high standards to follow an academic programme of their choice. (DWI)
HitAd.lk is the best and biggest mobile phone market in Sri Lanka, and we guarantee you will find what you need here from our extensive listing of mobile phones for sale in Sri Lanka. Whether it’s a budget-priced smartphone for communication, or higher end features with advanced connectivity, there are many different options from which to choose from on our site!