Quality must be considered in field of research: Minister Amunugama

Minister Dr. Amunugama addresses the 2nd Annual Research Symposium organised by NCAS at the UGC auditorium on 8 June. Secretary to the Ministry P. Ranepura, UGC Chairman Professor Mohan De Silva, UGC Vice Chairman Professor P.M.S. Gunarathna and Professor Carlo Fonseka were also present

Quantity can never take a place in research. It is the quality of research which must be considered in the field of research, Higher Education and Research Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama stressed at the second Annual Research Symposium organised by the National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences in Sri Lanka (NCAS) at the UGC auditorium on 8 June. He further stated that:

“As Sri Lankans we have a great history in the field of research where our teachers have shown their capacities in the field. We must rethink how to achieve such records. As university lecturers, you have to have the culture of engaging researches ceaselessly since universities are upgrading and developing with their research activities with novel innovations and findings. 

For a long time, there is a huge vacuum in researches and findings in the field of Humanity and Social Sciences as we clearly identified. This has to be addressed properly with a keen consideration by university lecturers and researchers to save our universities from the downfall in world university rankings. 

In the field of research, we must rationalise our system of awarding scholarships, selecting areas, research topics, etc. Nobody can easily escape from the standards of research since it has been deeply established across the globe. So we must have some rational solutions in the field to re-establish our research culture. 

Since you all are university lecturers, I must say that we have to re-arrange or re-structure the entrance system of students. With the implementation of the special intake system some problems have arisen since the last few years because it has been reported that some students have got privileges without having the essential cut-off marks for the entrance. My aim is to introduce an impartial entrance system where neither the public can be questioned nor any authority be influenced. 

Previously, we had a considerable number of patents registered for a year. Unfortunately, it has been reduced in a large scale with the shortage of conducting researches. This has been causing something like a cancer in the Government university system, especially in the fields of arts and humanities. This has to be uprooted as soon as possible. Therefore I request you to take it as your duty and responsibility to re-gain the name and fame of our Sri Lankan research culture internationally.”