Consult stakeholders

THE banning of student unions at the Peradeniya University is a landmark event. It is the latest among many signs that the power of student unions is being gradually eroded by the Government for a number of reasons.

At first glance this appears to be a good move. After all, unions disrupt the running of universities, prevent students from learning and in many instances have ragged and otherwise victimised youth. Unions have been responsible for political unrest and the death of many in the past and most people would be justified in saying good riddance.

However, the plan of the Government to bring in public universities gives the situation a different twist. The Government’s interference in the running of public universities to the point of insisting on military training for students and security firms composed of former Army personnel being deployed at universities has created more dimensions that need to be carefully considered.

The Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) that has so earned the ire of the Government is at the centre of this controversy and in many ways embodies the student union movement of Sri Lanka. IUSF comprises student unions representing four main universities in Sri Lanka. They are University of Peradeniya, University of Kelaniya, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and University of Ruhuna. Several student unions from other universities also come under the IUSF.

Before the 1970s, Sri Lankan university student unions were mainly affiliated with left-wing political parties such as Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Communist Party and Sri Lanka Freedom Party. But with the JVP-led Marxist youth rebellion in 1971, the JVP secured a dominant position among university students in the country. In this context, the Inter University Students’ Federation was established in 1978, amalgamating the student unions that already supported the political views of the JVP.

Interestingly, the first campaign of the union was against the revoking of rice welfare given to people who suffered from poverty. Then it conducted similar protests against the infamous ‘White Paper on Education’ in 1981, prohibition of May Day and plans to set up North Colombo Medical College in the early 1980s. Due to these protests, it was prohibited in 1984. The ban was lifted few years later. IUSF states its mission is “to save free education and [act] against the privatisation of education that turns education in to a commodity”. This is what has brought it to the front and centre of the private university battle.

Private universities must also be regulated to ensure that they do not rip off their students, provide quality degrees and give opportunities for low income youth so that everyone has a chance at the benefits of good education resulting in equitable development. Public universities must also be revamped so that they are in line with international standards and their staff upgraded and retained. Both private and public universities must also provide much-needed scientific and technological knowledge for the development of Sri Lanka. This much most people agree on. However, the challenge is on how to engage with students in order to achieve these goals sans unions.

There are valid fears that the public university system, which is a boon to the poorest youth, will be undermined by the Government’s bulldozing tactics that do not consult stakeholders. How can students, lecturers, professors and others make the Government listen? The very fact that even the salary hikes promised to them have not been delivered shows that engagement, confidence and trust between the parties are at an all-time low.

Therefore, the Government must be careful to keep communication channels with stakeholders open, despite its intense dislike of unions.