Friday, 25 October 2013 00:00
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DESPERATE times call for desperate measures, or so the Sabaragamuwa University students feel, as they defied a Court order to march in protest of what they say is the Government’s attempt to damage free education by opening up to private universities and cutting back on funding for their public counterparts.
Private universities have long been a thorn of contention between the Government and student unions, which has resulted in allegations of repressive actions by the former. Police have now taken to banning marches, effectively refusing the right to gather, a tactic that was also recently used in Weliweriya to quash down on important issues that need an open dialogue.
After much back and forth, the Government has, largely under the table, allowed private universities to enter Sri Lanka. In this complex web of educational opportunity versus shadowy procedures, the battle rages on an ethical platform.
The project to establish a branch campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) in the Mirigama Export Processing Zone received Parliament approval earlier this month without attracting much criticism from the Opposition. The UCLAN branch campus, which is identified as a Strategic Development Project, will be the first-of-its-kind foreign university to be established in Sri Lanka and adds US$ 125 million to Government coffers.
Providing higher education is big business and investors stand to make tens of millions. However, what is disturbing is that while the Government is enthusiastic about accepting FDI from foreign universities, they are paying scant attention to regulating these same institutions and making sure that they maintain international standards. There is also little attention to making these new universities inclusive so that it does not become a situation where poor children are relegated to badly-funded public universities while richer kids end up at private institutions purely because their parents have more money.
A few years ago the Higher Education Minister rolled out an ambitious plan to upgrade local universities and assist them to specialise in one field, thereby being able to climb international rankings and attract foreign students. Yet this ideal is yet to get off the ground in any meaningful sense, putting the vision of universal higher education at risk. How much opportunity does this current step by the Government give to talented children from poor backgrounds? Conversely how does it ensure that parents’ hard-earned money is not frittered away on inflated degree prices?
The transparency of this investment needs to be questioned as much as Packer’s infamous casino venture, but few are questioning why it was kept under wraps for so long. Without an independent regulatory system and transparent investment mechanism, higher education in Sri Lanka will be sold to the highest bidder. Parents, fatigued by political wrangling and non-existent policies, will be happy to purchase their children the chance of a better life.
But development comes to societies that provide equal opportunities. Private universities should be allowed, but in a space that allocates a level playing field for their public counterparts as well. Around the world there are examples of development based on such a system. Sadly, the Government seems to have no interest in leading this change as the latest Appropriation Bill has proved. It details less funding when the marginal increases are balanced off by inflation, leading one to believe that there is a point to the student protests.
