University students in Sri Lanka have accused the government of secretly working on agenda to privatise state universities. 

Duminda Nagamuva, convenor of Inter University Student Union (IUSU), accused President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government of gradually reducing budget allocation for state universities. 

“The allocation was reduced by 20 per cent in January. Another 50 per cent was recently reduced announced,” he told BBC Sandeshaya. 

Commenting on a recent report by government auditors, Nagamuva said the government has lost Rs. 389,000 million as they have failed to collect the tax revenue. 

Another Rs. 150,000 million was lost due to corruption by higher officials and politicians, he quoted figures from a recent parliamentary committee report. 

“Universities are only granted Rs. 7000 million,” the student leader told BBCSinhala.com. 

He was commenting after a protest rally by Rajarata university students was prevented from entering to the Higher Education ministry premises in Colombo by the police. 

Rajarata university students accused the authorities of failing to provide basic needs of the students despite repeated protests. 

President of the Rajarata University Students Union (RUSU), Dhanushka Kumarasinghe, said a Satyagraha has been launched in Mihintale 25 days ago. 

“We do not have hostel facilities; no teachers,” Kumarasinghe told BBCSinhala.com. 

The government have ignored the students’ plight despite their 45 day-protest, he added. 

Students who have travelled to the capital from ancient Anuradhapura district said they were not provided with basic facilities to continue with studies. 

“We do not have pure water to drink. Many will end up with kidney failures if they do not supply us with clean water,” Dhanushka Kumarasinghe said. 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2007/07/070730_rajarata_students.shtml

Applications for grade one from Aug. 15; List to be finalised by November 15

• 50 marks for child’s intelligence and aptitude
  
• 40 marks for parental consideration
  
• 10 marks for brother-sister category

The Supreme Court yesterday approved the much-looked forward to draft circular on the national policy for school admission and management of schools, and ordered that public schools call for applications for grade one admissions for next year from August 15.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Justices Raja Fernando and Jagath Balapatabendi said the Presidential Secretary would monitor the implementation of the new circular in the capacity of Competent Authority.
The Court said schools should appoint their respective selection committees before August 31 and finalize the list of grade one admissions for next year by November 15.
According to the new criteria of selection for grade one admissions, the assessment of the child will earn 50 marks, parental consideration will receive 40 marks while the brother-sister category will receive 10 marks.
In the assessment process of the child, 25 marks will be given for the child’s intelligence and 25 marks for aptitude. Under the parental consideration, parents actively involved in the past pupils association will be entitled to 15 marks depending on the tenure and level of participation in the association. The educational qualifications of either parent will also add points with 8 marks allotted to those who have passed the GCE Ordinary level, 10 marks for the AL qualified, 12 marks for Diploma holders and 15 marks for Degree holders.
The occupation of parents will be another new criterion according to the new set of guidelines. Three marks will be given to children of primary level employees in the public or private sector, 5 marks for clerical or allied grades, 7 marks for tertiary level junior managers and the full ten points for senior managers or professionals.
Children of members of a local body will get 3 marks, while a provincial council member’s child will get 5 marks. The child of an MP will be entitled to 7 marks while a minister’s child will be allotted 10 marks.
Children whose parents are members of the armed forces will get 7 marks while those working in operational areas will get 10 marks.
A child whose brother or sister studies in the same school will get 10 marks.
The independent selection committee of each school will comprise two representatives from the school past pupils’ association, two from the school development society (not being teachers), the principal or his representative being a deputy principal or senior teacher, a representative of the zonal director of education and an eminent well-wisher of the school not being a person involved in politics.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/31/front/03.asp

COLOMBO: The protest conducted by the students of Rajarata University was called off after an assurance given to the agitators by Higher Education Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala that the Ministry would take immediate action to address students’ grievances. The Minister agreed to solve most of the demands of the students at the meeting held at the Higher Education Ministry with ten members of the students’ union yesterday afternoon.

The Minister said that he has submitted a Cabinet paper last Wednesday and received the Cabinet approval to construct two hostels which would facilitate accommodation of 800 students. Accordingly, the Government has allocated Rs. 360 million for the construction of two separate hostels as an initial step towards addressing the burning problems confronting the Rajarata University. The Minister assured that the Higher Education Ministry would take immediate action on this issue.

Speaking on the students’ demand to take over the Police quarters for use as university hostels, the Minister said that the Higher Education Minister has to discuss the matter with the Police Department and Ministry of Defence .

Though this process will take some time, the Higher Education Ministry will attend to this as a matter of urgency after the students asked for a dead-line. But the students pointed out that the Ministry had gone back on it’s word on earlier occasions . According to the students they received the same assurance six months ago but no action had been taken up todate.

The Minister advised the Chairman of the UGC to address the issue of the dearth of academic staff with immediate effect.

The UGC Chairman pointed out, despite the continuous advertisements in papers it was difficult to attract qualified lecturers. Hence Prof. Warnapala advised the UGC Chairman to look into the possibility of granting an incentive allowance aiming to attract lecturers. In addition steps will be taken to solve the drinking water problem since the students complained that they lack this basic need.

Dharma Sri Abeyratne http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/07/31/news21.asp

This year and perhaps hereafter children will be allocated schools largely according to their intelligence/aptitude levels. 25% of the marks are given for intelligence (= capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc. – from dictionary.com) AND 25% for aptitude. (= capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; talent – from dictionary.com) 

Once they distinguish ‘intelligence’ from ‘aptitude’ we guess the educational authorities will decide how to measure both in 5 year olds – who cannot read and write anyway. 

It is well known fact that till three years a child cannot memorise anything because the brain has not grown enough. So a child has 1-2 years to get prepared for this IQ test, which will largely decide whether he will go to Royal College or Siddhamulla kanishta Vidyalaya. Before long we may even have tuition classes preparing students for these IQ tests. 

Albert Einstein was lucky because he did not have to face these tests those days to find a school. Otherwise he would not have been able to get into a good school because he has never been bright kid when he was young. 

This is what Sunday Times said yesterday. 

Gr. 1 admissions:Draft proposals go to Chief Justice 

By Isuri Kaviratne 

The final draft of the proposals on Grade 1 admissions will be handed over to the Chief Justice for consideration tomorrow, after making the amendments suggested by the Supreme Court, an official of the Joint Committee of the Past Pupils Association said.
The amendments ordered were some adjustments and clarifications such as a methodology to accommodate a child in a school after his admission had been rejected by another school or if the parents want to send applications to several schools, a way to coordinate them and so on, association media spokesperson Dr. A. Rabel said. 

Lawyer U. Egalahewa who represented parents and teachers, (non-past pupils) told The Sunday Times all the parties involved would take part during the weekend in taking up the suggestions. According to the proposed system, which would be finalised tomorrow, three main categories have been suggested for giving marks with a total of 100. 

Fifty marks would be given for the evaluation of the child which includes intelligence and aptitude, with a maximum of 25 marks for each. The rest of the marks to be given will be as follows: 15 marks for active participation of either parent as a past pupil, 15 marks for the educational qualification of the parents and 10 marks for the profession of the parents (e.g. public servant, armed forces). 

Ten marks are to be given for those in the brother /sister category and if a brother or a sister is studying in a school close by, other siblings would get five marks considering the convenience for parents in sending their children to that school. 

According to a report in Financial Times “Despite the rapid depreciation of the Sri Lanka rupee, more and more students are seeking a foreign professional qualification which require costly foreign cash.” http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070729/FinancialTimes/ft326.html

Interestingly, most CVs we see these days cite a local degree and  CIMA  as qualifications, both completed at about the same time. In essence, we are giving free-of-charge education that  (a) needs another professional qualification to prop it up (b) is spent on some people who can afford to pay (c) ends up ill-serving those who are supposed to benefit.

I like to elaborate on the last point. Take the three cases: (1) A student from a poor family qualifies for university  and enters the School of management at University of Sri Jayewardenapura, say, for a free-of-charge education (2) Another one enters at the same time and pays for CIMA as well,and gets to be employable even before the end of the degree program. (3) A third one starts the CIMA, works while she/he studies and then goes on to do a MBA.  The first student wastes time going back and forth between ad-hoc closures and reopenings while the other two progress steadily and the second student wastes tax payer money to get  a degree that is a mere status symbol.
If the purpose of government spending on higher education is equity, would it not be more equitable for the government to give some real options to  those who are supposed to benefit from the spending? For example, instead of wasting money on public institutions that are incapable of managing themselves, why not ask them to reduce enrolment and use the per student cost  difference to give scholarship to a percent of GCE A/L top performers so that they can choose to follow the CIMA-work_MBA track if they want to.

(Lanka e News - 2007 July 25, 4.30 PM) A student monk and few more students were injured and hospitalized due to a clash between JVP led Students’ Council and the Science Faculty Council of the Kelaniya University yesterday (24).

Registrar of the University Mr. Karunarathna said that the authorities decided to close the university after a discussion between the Vice Chancellor and the Police. The date of opening is yet to be announced. The registrar said that 75% of the students had left the hostels by this morning. He further said that university buildings and the vehicles of the academic staff were damaged due to the exchanges of stones.

Science Faculty Council Chairman Saliya was taken into custody by the Kiribathgoda Police yesterday 11.45 PM and he was remanded until August 02 after producing before the Number 05 Magistrate Sujeewa Nissanka. Lawyer Manjula Pathiraja who appeared for the student leader said to Lanka-e-News that he had been arrested under act regarding the student ragging.

The OIC of Kiribathgoda police station said few more students are to be taken into custody over the attack.

Three students were suspended lectures since ragging by the JVP led Students Council. The Science Faculty Council is vehemently against ragging and the two factions clash time to time over this.

The JVP student union members yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Higher Education, broke open the gate and burnt the letter they were to submit to the Minister under the portico. The two student factions clashed in the university after this incident.
Source: http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=4456

HSBC recently launched an educational environment programme for 400 schoolchildren in five schools, namely Weddagala Maha Vidyalaya, Pothupitiya Maha Vidyalaya, Kudawa Maha Vidyalaya, Gamini Maha Vidyalaya and Thiriwanaketiya Vidyalaya, which are situated in and around the vicinity of the Sinharaja forest.
The need to conserve the Sinharaja rainforest is becoming increasingly important to Sri Lanka with climate change being seen as a serious threat to the world.
Therefore, HSBC, together with Field Orthinology Group (FOG) attached to the University of Colombo, took this initiative in order to sensitize students to the environmental issues facing the Sinharaja rainforest and to create a core group of school children dedicated to the cause of environmental conservation.
The school environmental programme will comprise an intensive one year course on environmental issues, a schools beautification programme, a schools libraries programme and many nature outings.
HSBC has always been committed towards the preservation of the environment, with HSBC staff being sent on the Homestay Programme.
This provided them with the opportunity to interact with the villagers living in the Sinharaja buffer zone, take part in their daily activities and allowed them to experience the hardships the villagers go through, while learning about the importance of the Sinharaja rainforest.
Other than for this project, HSBC has played a major role in the conservation of Horton Plains.
Collaborating with the Department for Wildlife Conservation, this project aims to keep the plains free from litter. Awareness is a major part of this campaign and the hoardings placed at strategic points around the Horton Plains bear witness to this strategy.
HSBC Group has a long standing commitment to the environment and believes climate change to be the single largest environmental challenge this century. In 2005, HSBC became the world’s first major bank to become Carbon neutral. It has also been named as the overall winner in the first FT Sustainable Banking Awards, in recognition of its leadership in merging social, environmental and business objectives.
Truly the world’s local bank, HSBC maintains a presence in 10,000 offices in 82 countries and territories worldwide. The bank has a comparably strong presence in North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and declared assets of USD 1,861 billion as at 31 December 2006. HSBC is acknowledged as one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/27/ft/04.asp

Teachers of Dhaka University on Saturday took classes wearing black badges as a sign of protest against the harassment of and repression on the two former prime ministers—detained Awami League president Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The DU teachers will also observe half-day work abstention today as part of their two-day protest programmes and decide on their next course of action depending on the government’s response to the five-point demand they made at an emergency meeting of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association on Thursday, leaders of the association said.
 

 ‘All the teachers irrespective of their political belief took classes wearing black badges and we will make the two-day protest programme a success,’ the general secretary of the DUTA, Professor Anwar Hossain, told New Age.
Theachers belonging to to allgroups—the blue panel supported by the AL, the pro-BNP white panel and left-leaning pink panel carried out the association’s decision.
   A few teachers, however, took classes without wearing black badges.
   The DUTA general secretary said that driven by their conscience, the teachers of Dhaka University had taken part in the programme although they had been asked by intelligence personnel not to stage protests violating the emergency rules.
   The government has slapped a ban on all sorts of protest programmes, rallies and processions by any group under the Emergency Power Rules 2007, after the interim administration took over on January 12.
   The DUTA leaders at their Friday’s meeting, attended by 223 of its members, observed that the interim administration of Fakhruddin Ahmed was acting beyond its constitutional mandate and demanded that the general elections should be held immediately and power handed over to an elected government.
   The meeting also demanded unconditional release of Sheikh Hasina, arrested by the army-led joint forces on July 16 and detained in a sub-jail, and condemned repressive measures against Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia and other political leaders.
   They also strongly protested at the reported government move to eliminate the two former premiers from the country’s political scene, and demanded removal of the law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser, Mainul Hosein, from the council of advisers for his politically motivated statements.
   Dhaka University students in general also expressed solidarity with the teachers’ movement.
   ‘We support the teachers’ protest against the government move to politically victimise the top leaders,’ said a final year student of mass communication and journalism. He said removing Hasina and Khaleda was not a solution to the political crisis.
   Besides the teachers’ programme, a small group of students, mostly members of the Awami League’s student front Chhatra League, brought out a procession on the campus on Saturday morning amid tight security. They demanded immediate release of Sheikh Hasina.
   They called upon the students to make today’s ‘countrywide strike in educational institutions’ successful and mobilise public support to free the Awami League president.
   The authorities deployed additional security forces on the campus to avert troubles. No such incident was reported during the teachers’ protest programme.
   Plainclothesmen remained active across the campus.
   On Friday night, intelligence personnel quizzed three senior teachers on the campus. They also insisted that the teachers should call off the programme.
   The DUTA general secretary alleged that an unknown caller on Friday night threatened to abduct his family members unless he called off the programme. He lodged a complaint with the university authorities asking for his security.
   The president of the DUTA, Sadrul Amin, a pro-BNP teacher, however, did not turn up on the campus on the day.
   ‘I did not go to the campus as I have no classes today,’ Sadrul Amin, told New Age.

Source: http://www.newagebd.com/2007/jul/22/front.html#1

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa affirmed his commitment to provide equal educational rights and opportunities to all, sans racial, religious, castes or other prejudices.

President Rajapaksa made this affirmation on Tuesday when he presided at the annual 2005/2006 prize giving of his Alma Mater, Thurstan College Colombo, to distribute prizes and special merit and skills awards to the winners.

“I have allocated Rs. 70 million in the last budget, a sum never allocated in the past, intending to provide quality education to all, based on the premise that it is the onus and obligation of the Government to do so,” he said.

The President pointed out that teachers always seek transfers and strive to serve in urban schools where all facilities are provided. That has resulted in the ‘never ending’ dearth of teachers in rural schools, he said.

He appealed to teachers to refrain from such an attitude, with due consideration on the plight of the village students who may be deprived of their right to education.

Recollecting his school days at Thurstan College, he said he could reminisce every inch of the college, its playground and the school hall among others. Albeit Thurstan College is comparatively a new school, it has groomed out to be a leading and popular school in the island due to the commitment of its staff.

“We believe that we all love our Motherland. If we love our Motherland, we should also love our beloved parents. Those who love their Alma Mater, will also love their country and parents,” he added. Education Minister Susil Premajayanth also participated.

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/07/26/news02.asp

This unedited and apparently amateurish video clip available in You Tube shows Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President speaks to a group of villagers and teachers at Mahavilachchiya on the issues related to school education. Gives a good idea about the type of problems at the village level.

We will be glad to know how or whether the things changed after this discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRNpg7Kdtdo