WikiLeaks: CPC And CEB – Sri Lanka Is Meeting IMF Targets

Colombo Telegraph, 22/05/2013

“An IMF team conducting its first quarterly assessment has determined that Sri Lanka is meeting the targets of the July IMF standby agreement, and it appears that the IMF staff will recommend release of the second tranche of IMF funds in October. The IMF agreement, combined with optimism from the end of Sri Lanka,s conflict and an improving external economic environment, has encouraged substantial inflows of foreign capital into Sri Lanka. Although the road forward will be challenging, the IMF believes that Sri Lanka is on track to build international foreign reserves, control expenditure, increase government revenue, and reform the banking sector. The IMF will establish an office housed in the Sri Lankan Central Bank to monitor compliance. Overall, the IMF seems more optimistic than several local economists.”the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington. 

IMF Mission Chief Dr. Brian Aitken

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The unclassified cable recounts the details of the first quarterly review conducted by the IMF  re  Sri Lanka’s progress toward IMF goals.The cable was written on September 23, 2009  by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A. Butenis.

Ambassador Butenis wrote; “The most difficult challenge will be to increase revenue so that Sri Lanka escapes from chronic balance of payments crisis. Government revenue fell by an estimated 6%  in the first half of 2009, reflecting declining imports (GSL derives a key segment of its revenue from import duties) and a weak domestic economy. The GSL has targeted increasing its revenue by 2% of GDP by 2011, starting from the 14.9% collected in 2008. Aitken was optimist that the GSL is ready to make fundamental reforms to increase revenue, and he noted that Sri Lanka has already increased its “nation building tax” from 1.5 to 3%. Sri Lanka will also benefit from increased revenues as the economy improves and imports increase. GSL has a Presidential Commission to examine ways to increase revenue, focusing on widening the taxpayer base rather than increasing tax rates. Currently there are only 650,000 taxpayers (out of a total 20 million population) but the GSL to start collecting from 1 million taxpayers by 2010.”

“The GSL could meet its IMF target for two key state owned enterprises (SOE) to break even financially by 2011. The Ceylon Petroleum Company (CPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) chronically lose money, but the IMF team thought that the GSL has fully committed to reforming these SOEs to stop the drain on government finances. The CPC has benefited from falling international oil prices, while they have kept domestic retail oil prices high. Similarly, the CEB is building a coal fired electricity plant, so they could benefit from moving from high cost oil to cheaper coal. It is not clear that the GSL has planned real reforms of either SOE.” she further wrote.

Placing a comment Butenis wrote; Econoff was surprised by the IMF,s optimistic assessment. Although clearly the GSL has built up its reserves, and private capital is flowing into portfolio investments, many economists and businessmen are skeptical that the GSL will be able to continue to meet its spending and revenue targets. The GSL plans to call Presidential and Parliamentary elections over the next six months, which could lead to excessive spending.”

Editorial - No money for life-saving drugs; Second-degree murder

Colombo Telegraph, 22/05/2013

The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), which supplies life- saving or essential drugs to public hospitals and medical clinics, was reported yesterday to have run out of funds to buy drugs because the Treasury had cut the Health Ministry’s budgetary allocation by Rs. five billion.

 According to yesterday’s Daily Mirror front page story the cut in allocations and the lack of funds have resulted in a dangerous shortage of life- saving drugs at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital, the Sri Lanka National Hospital, the Teaching Hospitals in Peradeniya, Karapitiya, Jaffna and Anuradhapura and the General Hospitals in Kandy, Galle, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Kurunegala and several district and base hospitals.



A spokesman for the SPC said the total budgetary allocation for the import of medicinal drugs was Rs.21.4 billion but by yesterday the SPC had used Rs. 15.1 billion. The SPC’s bankers, the Bank of Ceylon and the People's Bank had informed that they were unable to open any more letters of credit as the SPC had exceeded its loan limits because of the Rs. five billion cut by the Treasury. The recurrent and capital expenditure for the Health Ministry has been estimated at Rs. 93 billion and an official said the cut by the Treasury had affected the allocation for the SPC’s drug imports because the Ministry could not afford to cut any other recurrent expenditure like salaries for doctors and other staff.

 Some Rs. 290 billion had been allocated for the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development for 2013 while about Rs. seven billion—that means about Rs. 2 million a day-- had been allocated for the Office of the President.

 It is shocking and shameful that the Rs. five billion cut by the Treasury has been imposed on a life or death area such as the import of life- saving drugs. In terms of the comprehensive National Medicinal Drugs Policy (NMDP)-- which the cabinet approved as  far back as October 2005 but legislation for which has still not been introduced in Parliament-- the SPC and the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) were to be amalgamated. Incentives were to be given for the SPMC to manufacture hundreds of essential or life- saving drugs. Instead of doing this about 15,000 drugs—including some non-essential though highly expensive varieties under their brand names—have been registered for import and prescription. As a result Sri Lanka is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange and today poor innocent people warded in public hospitals and even cancer victims at the Maharagama hospital are suffering grave consequences.

 Recently Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena made the ridiculous statement that draft legislation for a National Medicinal Drugs Policy had disappeared. Was it another way of saying that a VIP does not want the NMDP because transnational drug corporations are giving huge amounts of funds to the ruling party?

This is a deadly situation and needs to be rectified immediately because it is only May and if we don’t have life saving drugs till December this year, hundreds might die and it would amount to second- degree murder.

Blundering politicians continue their assault on Higher Education

The Island, May 17, 2013, 8:53 pm 

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY

Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way
With blossom'd furze unprofitably gay,
There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule,
The village master taught his little school;
A man severe he was, and stern to view,
I knew him well, and every truant knew;
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The days disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he:
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd:

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774)
in The Deserted Village

It is said that in this poem Goldsmiith was referring to his own tutor in the village in which he grew up and where his father was the Anglican parish priest. Goldsmith apparently had a very high regard and respect for this village schoolmaster; but the schoolchildren, as kids everywhere, were quick to recognise their teacher’s varying moods and kept him in good humour and avoided inviting his wrath, It appears that our university administrators today are following what schoolchildren have been doing, before and after Goldsmith’s time. They seem to think, rightly or wrongly, that they owe their positions to politicians and bend over backwards to show their loyalty to the politicians who have placed them in the positions they hold. Sadly this malaise has even spread to members of the University Councils who also think that they must do the bidding of the politicians who have placed then in their positions. Their decision making is therefore warped by this mind-set.

In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which included the right to education. Primary education was to be compulsory and free while higher education was to be accessible to all on the basis of merit. The same Article 26 in the Declaration of Hunan Rights further states: "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace."

Sri Lanka has had a long tradition of learning. The village Buddhist and Hindu temples produced scholars in all disciplines of study including science and medicine, but particularly in the fields of art, literature and religion. But some years before the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.. Sri Lanka had introduced free education not just for the primary stages but right up to university level. Compulsory education was also introduced at the same time but it took a while to be implemented because of inadequate facilities. But following the Kannangara reforms, there was a surge in the provision of well-staffed quality schools in all parts of the country. The same held for university education. Access was on merit but not available to all. owing of inadequate material resources There was then only one University of Ceylon. Even wIth many more now, we are still not able to meet the demands for higher education. There is also a wide disparity between the universities in the quality of education each of them provide.

Issues facing higher education

These are the deficiencies and issues that the Ministry of Higher Education should be addressing. Free education needs to be strengthened; the Universities should be provided with adequate material and physical resources to meet the demand for higher education. The autonomy of the Universities should safeguarded and the Vice Chancellors and academic staff should be selected on merit and research encouraged.

It was not very long nago that we had a prolonged and unprecedented trade union action by the university academics. It was resolved only when the university authorities and the Ministry of Higher Education agreed to implement the major demands of the striking academics. But none of the major demands of FUTA appear to have been have been conceded and the Ministry seems intent on gearing up for another confrontation with the University teachers.

It is now generally accepted that the recommendation of the UNESCO that member countries of the United Nations should aim at allocating 6% of the GDP for education to ensure that that the minimum standards in education are met. But to our shame, the present allocation in Sri Lanka is only 1.9%. Politicians are fond of saying that Sri Lanka will become the educational hub of Asia. This is pure rhetoric. In fact the Budget, instead of increasing the allocation for education, actually reduced it, presumably to provide for the huge increase in allocation for the Ministry of Defence. If Sri Lanka is to move forward to becoming an educational hub of Asia, there must be definite commitment by the government towards the end of allocating of GDP for education. This cannot be achieved by the Ministry issuing diktats on political bases. The Kannangara reforms came into being after considerable public discussion through the media and through direct consultations with academics. No such discussions take place now. The Ministry must give up its ‘take it or leave it’ attitude, that only it knows what is best. All stakeholders, including the academics and parents, need to be drawn into the decision making process. This will make for healthy democratic governance not only in education but in all areas involving people’s lives.

The introduction of compulsory training in military camps for new University entrants was also an unacceptable unilateral decision. This was perhaps not a brainchild of the Ministry of Higher Education but a decision forced on it by the ideologists of the Ministry of Defence. It appears that the curriculum is more an exercise in indoctrination, in disregarding our pluralist past and highlighting our narrow present. Obviously those who formulated the curriculum did not think in terms of the LLRC recommendation that we should be fostering reconciliation.

But it is the Ministry of Higher Education that is solely responsible for the politicisation of our Universities. The University administrators and the University Councils have also to take their share of the blame for not resisting the naked politicisation of our Universities The appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for the University of Colombo has been embroiled in controversy. Attempts are being made to appoint the spouse of the former Vice Chancellor who is now the Chairperson of the University Grants Commission, when among the short-listed candidates is a senior academic with unmatched academic qualifications. But the spouse of the favourite candidate has been a loyal political favourite and was herself rewarded by being appointed to the Chair of the UGC.

The crisis at Peradeniya

The appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya has also been mired in controversy. The person chosen was the least qualified among the short-listed applicants the appointment was obviously a clear political decision. So also was the Vice Chancellor’s choice of a Deputy. These are leading to a real crisis situation in the University system.

In a hard-hitting statement, the FUTA has written: "Having minions of unscrupulous politicians at key positions in administration is now taking its toll of the entire Sri Lankan University system as Vice Chancellors are appointed not on academic merit but solely on political connections. These institutions are now depicted in the public's eye in negative hues due to unprecedented politicization and deterioration of autonomy. This is despite the efforts of FUTA and its sister unions to enlighten the public and exert relentless pressure on the administrators and the government to realise and respect the importance of university autonomy and academic freedom.

When the last TUA action of FUTA ended, it was agreed to have senate meetings at each university on autonomy, academic freedom and politicization. Despite this, the government continues to attempt to violate the autonomy of our universities taking political interference to an unprecedented level.....

The University of Peradeniya is one of the oldest and most prestigious of Sri Lankan universities has also not been spared. The government appointed the least qualified candidate as Vice Chancellor highlighting bad governance and vested interests. In an attempt to exert pressure on the VC to comply with existing procedures, the Federation of Peradeniya University Teachers’ Associations (FPUTA) officially met the newly appointed VC and communicated the importance of winning the trust of the academic community he was appointed to lead. But this was not to be: the Deputy Vice Chancellor appointment at the University of Peradeniya which followed also reflected the will of government-backed administrators rather than that of the academic community. The person appointed had antagonistic relations with both academics and students due to high handed and unethical behaviour and no right-thinking administration would have selected such an individual to a position of great responsibility. In protest, the Peradeniya Academic community through the Union submitted a petition signed by members of all faculties, requesting the Vice Chancellor to replace the Deputy Vice Chancellor. This was ignored. To stall these unprecedented breaches on autonomy, the Peradeniya University Community through FPUTA staged a one day token strike. As there was no positive response from the administration, the members withdrew from all the voluntary positions that directly dealt with the Deputy Vice Chancellor. FPUTA also resolved that its members will resort to agitations at crucial events/junctures, as deemed necessary by the academic community to protest the deterioration of university autonomy and academic freedom. The academic community is also considering boycotting the convocation procession and the dinner this year. This is a final resort since the academic community is fully aware and sensitive of the importance of this occasion for students. This step is being considered reluctantly to protest against the deplorable lack of sensitivity towards the will of the entire academic community of University of Peradeniya by the politicized administrators."

Lowering academic standards

Also at Peradeniya recently, there were surreptitious moves to admit ten students to the Medical Faculty without going through the competitive GCE Advanced Level examination by which other students are selected for the MBBS programme. Sadly, there were university academic administrators who colluded in these moves. It is believed that the ten students were selected not on their academic records but they were coming in as fee-paying students. FUTA in their statement say: "It is learnt that interested political masters and their flunkeys have threatened and intimidated academics who protested against this decision. The authorities concerned clearly wanted to change the Peradeniya Medical Faculty into a degree shop and sadly, university administrators are letting it happen. Despite this, the Faculty Board of the Medical Faculty stood resolutely by their principles and have been able to defeat this well planned initiative. Similar stories of unprecedented ill-deeds are regularly disseminating from the entire university system.

We believe, now it is time for the academic community of Sri Lanka to step up their fight to safeguard the university system in what is possibly the darkest period of university education in this country. It is now time to stand united against the tides of darkness that threaten not only our institutions, but also our dignity. It is now time to fearlessly stand up for what we believe is right."

This statement of FUTA reflects a growing disappointment with the way that some political supporters of the government, including ministers and bureaucrats, are helping the people to openly distance themselves from the government. The country now needs a Mandela-type leader who will not fight evil by evil, one who will embrace the other without abandoning principles and stand firm on ensuring democratic governance. Is there such a leader on the horizon?

FUTA under pressure to join strike

The Island, May 15, 2013, 9:52 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is under pressure to join the May 21 token strike, organised by the Co–ordination Committee of the Trade Union Alliance (CCUTA), against the recent electricity tariff hike, ‘The Island’ learns.

Its crucial executive committee meeting held to decide whether to participate in the strike ended at the Colombo University Arts Faculty’s Board Room, leaving it to FUTA sister unions to approve the final decision.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told ‘The Island’ that FUTA executive committee decided to partially take part in the strike without adversely affecting undergraduates.

"The executive committee decision would be informed to the branch unions and it will be implemented only if they approve it," he said.

Dr. Dewasiri said that according to the Ex-Co decision, FUTA would conduct examinations and other essential services in the universities on May 21, but lectures would be boycotted.

The FUTA planned to stage demonstrations at some universities too, he said.

The key trade unions that will participate in the May 21 strike are National Trade Union Centre (NTUC), Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS), Postal and Telecommunication Officers’ Union, All Ceylon Trade Union Federation, Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union, Lanka National Estate Workers Union, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union, All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union, Public Service National Trade Union Federation, Eksath Kamkaru Sammelanaya, Inter University Employees’ Union.

Opposition political parties the UNP and JVP also have expressed their support for the scheduled strike.

විදෙස්‌ සිසුන් සරසවිවලට ගන්නේ නිදහස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනය ස්‌ථාවර කිරීමටයි

Divaina.com, 12/05/2012

- විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසමේ සභාපතිනි මහාචාර්ය ක්‍ෂණිකා හිරිඹුරේගම

අපේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට විදේශ සිසුන් බඳවා ගැනීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ යටතේ විදේශගත ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දෙමාපියන්ගේ දරුවන් පිරිසක්‌ ද පසුගියදා බඳවා ගැනිණි. ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් 12000 ක්‌ අයකර වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය ලබාදීම සඳහා පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට අනුයුක්‌ත කළ එම සිසුන් පිරිසක්‌ එම විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ වෛද්‍යපීඨය ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළේය. එම සිසුන් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ වෛද්‍ය පීඨයට ඇතුළත් වීමට අවශ්‍ය අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් සපුරා නැති බව ඔවුන්ගේ මතයයි. විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසම මෙම සිසුන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් පරීක්‍ෂා කර නැද්ද? මුදල් ගෙවා වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය ලබාගැනීමට මෙලෙස විදේශ සිසුන් බඳවා ගැනීම නිසා මෙරට උසස්‌ පෙළ සිසුන්ට අසධාරණයක්‌ නොවන්නේද? විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසමේ සභාපතිනි මහාචාර්ය ක්‌ෂණිකා හිරිඹුරේගම මහත්මිය සමග "දිවයින ඉරිදා සංග්‍රහය" පැවැත්වූ සාකච්ඡාවකි මේ.

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අපේ රටේ දුෂ්කර පළාත්වල උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගයෙන් සාමාන්‍ය සාමාර්ථ 3 ක්‌ ලබාගෙන වෛද්‍ය විද්‍යාලයට ඇතුළත් වුණු ළමයි ඉන්නව. අපේ උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගය හා සමානව සලකා බැලුවම මේ ඇතුළත් කරගෙන තියෙන වැඩිදෙනා A+ සාමාර්ථ තියෙන අය. මේ බඳවාගත් සියලු දෙනා විදේශිකයන් සහ විදේශයන්හි පදිංචි එම රටවල්වල රැකියා කරන ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දෙමාපියන්ගෙ දරුවො. විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට ඇතුළත්වීමට අවශ්‍ය සුදුසුකම් මෙන්ම ඔවුන්ගේ පදිංචිය හා රැකියා ස්‌ථාන පිළිබඳවත් මේ කමිටුව පරීක්‍ෂා කළා. මෙරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට ඇතුළත්වීමට අවශ්‍ය අවම සුදුසුකම් සපුරා නැති කිසිදු ශිෂ්‍යයෙක්‌ මේ කණ්‌ඩායම තුළ නැහැ.

පේරාදෙනිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ වෛද්‍ය පීඨයේ
මහාචාර්ය මල්කාන්ති චන්ද්‍රසේකර
විදේශ සිසුන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන
සුදුසුකම් පරීක්‍ෂා කළ කමිටුවේ සභාපතිනි.

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මුදල් අයකර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට සිසුන් බඳවා ගැනීම පිළිබඳ අනුගමනය කරන ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පැහැදිළි කරන්න.

අපේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට විදේශ සිසුන් සියයට පහක්‌ බඳවා ගැනීමේ රජයේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පසුගිය වසරේ සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා. විදේශ සිසුන් අපේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීම මෙහි අරමුණයි. මුදල් ගෙවල ඉගෙන ගන්න මේ ශිෂ්‍යයන්ට ලෝකයේ ඕනෑම විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයකට යන්න පුළුවන්. මේ විදේශ සිසුන් බඳවා ගන්නේ මේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට මේ රටේ සිසුන් බඳවා ගන්නා සංඛ්‍යාවට අමතරවයි. ඔවුන්ගෙන් අයකරන සියලුම මුදල් ඔවුන් අධ්‍යාපනය හදාරන විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලටයි ලැබෙන්නෙ. එම විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල බලධාරින්ට අවශ්‍ය ආකාරයට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පහසුකම් වැඩිකිරීමට හෝ ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ලබාදීම ආදියට එම මුදල් යොදවන්න පුළුවන්. ආචාර්ය මහාචාර්යවරුන්ට අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම්, ශිෂ්‍ය භෝජනාගාර, නේවාසිකාගාර ආදි මේ ඕනෑම කාර්යයකට එම මුදල් යොදවන්න පුළුවන්.

මෙලෙස බඳවා ගන්නා විදේශ සිසුන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් විමසා බැලෙන්නෙ කොහොමද?

මේ සඳහා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසමෙන් කමිටුවක්‌ පත්කළා. එහි සභාපතිනි මහාචාර්ය මල්කාන්ති චන්ද්‍රසේකර. ඇයත් සමඟ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වෛද්‍ය පීඨවල පීඨාධිපතිවරු දෙතුන් දෙනකුත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිසමේ නිලධාරීන් දෙතුන් දෙනෙකුත් ඒ කමිටුවට ඇතුළත් වුණා. සෑම විදේශ ශිෂ්‍යයකුගේම අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් ඒ කොමිසම පරීක්‍ෂා කළා. මේ අය බඳවා ගන්නේ ඒ අනුවයි.

ඇත්තවශයෙන් මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළේ අරමුණ යම් ආකාරයකට හෝ උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගය සඳහා අද තිබෙන මේ තරගය අඩුකිරීමටයි. මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ යටතේම ඉදිරි කාලයේදී ඩොලර් දොළොස්‌ දහසක මේ මුදල කිසියම් ණය සහන පදනමක්‌ මත ගෙවා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල වෛද්‍ය පීඨවලට ඇතුළත්වීමට කැමැති ශිෂ්‍ය ශිෂයාවන් සඳහාත් අවස්‌ථාවක්‌ ලබා දීමට අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. ඉදිරි කාලයේ අපේ රටට වෛද්‍යවරු මෙන්ම ඉංජිනේරුවරුන් විශාල ලෙස අවශ්‍යයි. ඉංජිනේරු පීඨ සඳහාත් මෙබඳු වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ යෙදීමේ හැකියාව පිළිබඳවත් අපි සොයා බලනවා.

මේ බඳවාගත් සිසුන් අවශ්‍ය අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් සපුරා තිබුණා නම් පේරාදෙණිය වෛද්‍ය පීඨය ඇයි ඔවුන් ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළේ?

ඒක මටත් හිතාගන්න බැරි ප්‍රශ්නයක්‌. මේ ශිෂ්‍යයන්ගෙ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් පරීක්‍ෂා කළේ කමිටුවකින්. වෛද්‍ය පීඨ පීඨාධිපතිවරුන් ඒ කමිටුවේ හිටිය. විදේශ ශිෂ්‍යයන් අපේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට බඳවා ගැනීම රජයේ තීරණයක්‌. රජයේ තීරණ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම රජයේ සේවකයන්ගේ වගකීමක්‌. යම් රජයේ සේවකයෙක්‌ රජයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අකමැති නම් ඒ ගැන ඉදිරිපත්වෙලා විවෘතව කතා කරන්න ඕන. රජයේ ප්‍රතිපත්තියට අනුව විදේශ ශිෂ්‍යයන් බඳවා ගැනීමට එකඟත්වය පළකරල ඔවුන් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට යෑව්වම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කිරීම වැරදියි. ඇතැමුන් දරන යම් යම් දේශපාලන මත අනුව මෙබඳු දේ සිදුවෙනවා දැයි මා දන්නේ නෑ.

අද අපේ රටේ වෛද්‍ය පීඨවලට ඇතුළත් වීමට ඉහළ සුදුසුකම් ලබන විශේෂයෙන් කොළඹ ගම්පහ වැනි දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කවල සිසු සිසුවියන් බොහෝ දෙනකුට ඊට අවස්‌ථාව ලැබෙන්නේ නෑ. පසුගිය විභාගයෙන් ඒ සාමාර්ථ තුනක්‌ ලැබූ කොළඹ සිසුන් 4 දෙනකුට ඒ අවස්‌ථාව අහිමි වුණා. කොළඹ, ගම්පහ, මහනුවර වැනි දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කවලට මේ අසාධාරණය සිදුවෙනවා. දුෂ්කර පළාත්වලට ලකුණු ලබාදීම යටතේ අද ටියුෂන් ක්‍රමය මතත් අසාධාරණයක්‌ සිදුවෙනවා. විෂයයන් තුනටම ඒ සාමාර්ථ ලැබූ ශිෂ්‍ය ශිෂ්‍යාවන් වගේම ඒ හා බී සාමාර්ථ ලැබූ සිසු සිසුවියන් බොහෝ පිරිසක්‌ අද පීඩාවට පත්ව සිටිනවා. මේ අයගෙන් ඇතමුන්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ලබාදී විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට ඇතුළත්වීමට අවස්‌ථාව ලබාදී තිබෙනවා.

උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගයෙන් ඉහළ ලකුණු ලබාගත් එහෙත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට ඇතුළත්වීමට නොහැකි පිරිසට මේ ක්‍රමය තුළින් යම් සහනයක්‌ ලබාදීමට හැකිද යන්න අපි සොයා බලනව. ශිෂ්‍යත්ව සහ සහන පදනමක්‌ මත ණය ලබාදීම වැනි වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ මේ ක්‍රමය තුළින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට හැකි වුණොත් උසස්‌පෙළ විභාගය නිසා පීඩාවට පත් ව සිටින විශාල පිරිසකට යම් සහනයක්‌ ලබාදෙන්න පුළුවන්.

අපේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල මේ ළමයි ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළා කියල මේ ළමයින්ට යන එන මං නැතිවෙන්නෙ නෑ. ඒ අය වෙනත් රටක විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයකට යයි. නමුත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට ඇතුළත් වෙන්න සුදුසුකම් තියෙන ඒ ළමයින් දෙන මුදලින් අපේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල දියුණු වෙනව නම් අපේ ළමයි වැඩිපුර බඳවා ගන්න අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම් අපේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල තුළ ඇතිවෙනව නම් අපේ ළමයින්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ලැබෙනව නම් රැකියා අවස්‌ථා වැඩිවනව නම් ඒ මුදල් ලබාගෙන ඒ ළමයින්ටත් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබාදීම වරදක්‌ද? මේ ආකාරයට පුළුල් ලෙස මේ දිහා නොබලා දේශපාලන හෝ වෙනත් පටු අරමුණු වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කිරීම අපේ අනාගත සිසු පරපුරට කරන වැරැද්දක්‌ ලෙසයි මා දකින්නේ.

පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළ මේ ශිෂ්‍ය ශිෂ්‍යාවන් වෙනුවෙන් අනුගමනය කරන වැඩපිළිවෙළ කුමක්‌ද?

අපි කිසිදු විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයකට ළමයි බලෙන් දෙන්නෙ නැහැ. ඒ අයට එපා නම් ඒ ළමයි වෙනත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයකට යාවි. අපේ රටේ මේ ආරම්භක අවස්‌ථාව වුණාට ලෝකයේ ප්‍රධාන පෙළේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ ඉතා හොඳින් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා. අපි බලන්නෙ විදේශ ළමයින්ට විතරක්‌ නෙමෙයි. අපේ රටේ ළමයින්ටත් මේ ක්‍රමය යටතේම ණය මුදලක්‌ ලබාදීල ඔවුනුත් වෛද්‍යවරු ඉන්ජිනේරුවරු කරන්නයි. අද මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළට විරුද්ධව ඉන්න ඇතැම් උගතුන්ගේ දරුවන්ටත් අනාගතයේ දී ඒ අවස්‌ථාව උදාකරගන්න පුළුවන්.

මේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ අපේ රටේ නිදහස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනයට තර්ජනයක්‌ නෙමෙයිද?

මෙය නිදහස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනය කඩාකප්පල් කරන වැඩ පිළිවෙළක්‌ නෙමෙයි. මේ නිසා නිදහස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනය කඩාකප්පල් වෙන්නේ නෑ. මේක නිදහස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනය ස්‌ථාවර කරන වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌.

* සාකච්ඡා කළේ
පාලිත සේනානායක

FUTA ready to blow the whistle on backdoor entrants

The Island, May 10, 2013, 10:51 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) yesterday said that they were ready to announce a list of political appointees in universities and the University Grants Commission (UGC).

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told The Island that the university system had been highly politicized during the past four years.

Dr. Dewasiri alleged that appointments of Peradeniya Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor served as examples.

The senior academic said that the FUTA would launch a struggle against the politicisation of universities and expose those political appointees.

"This is one reason for the brain drain," Dr. Dewasiri said, adding that those who went abroad did not come back as they were frustrated due to what was happening in national universities where the deserving academics were denied promotions."

The FUTA chief said that however they asked the UGC to announce the names of those who were overstaying abroad after going for higher studies on government scholarships. He said they had to be dealt with according to the law.

Dr. Dewasiri said that the UGC should recover the funds expended on them for violating the bond between the university and the academics entered prior to going abroad.

Deterioration of autonomy and academic freedom in the university system – FUTA press release

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The fundamental role of a contemporary university is teaching and research based

on the principle of the search for unbiased truth. This role is facilitated by intellectual

freedom in carrying out teaching and research, autonomy of universities, evolution of

various disciplines with inherent and independent standards/priorities and internationalism.

Furthermore, the Lima and Bologna declarations highlight the importance of having

universities as autonomous organizations that are attractive to students and researchers

across various cultures.

However, due to the deterioration of autonomy and increasing politicization, Sri

Lanka's universities are facing the risk of losing their University status (as understood in a

global context). A state that invests in quality higher education will, in addition to ensuring

adequate resources for universities also do its utmost to ensure academic freedom and

autonomy.

Clearly the government of Sri Lanka is now treating university education as a

commodity, universities as corporate entities and the academic administrators of those

universities (VCs, DVCs, Deans ect.) as business managers. The government expects only

that university administrators fall in line with their agenda. To this end, the state expects

university administrators to:

1. Ensure faculties that can be controlled at will

2. Provide minimum resources and cut costs and thereby maximize ‘profit’

3. Fundamentally change the goal of education to meet market needs by promoting

employability as the sole criterion of a quality tertiary education

4. Gradually introduce fee levying courses so that ability to pay rather than

academic quality becomes the criterion for university admission.

5. Use universities as a job market for minions of politicians

This will effectively turn universities into degree shops where features associated

with reputed universities mentioned previously such as autonomy and academic freedom are

actively suppressed. This is not only the agenda for the envisaged private universities, but

also for the existing state universities.

Having minions of unscrupulous politicians at key positions in administration is

now taking its toll of the entire Sri Lankan University system as Vice Chancellors are

appointed not on academic merit but solely on political connections. These institutions are

now depicted in the public's eye in negative hues due to unprecedented politicization and

deterioration of autonomy. This is despite the efforts of FUTA and its sister unions to

enlighten the public and exert relentless pressure on the administrators and the government

to realise and respect the importance of university autonomy and academic freedom.

When the last TUA action of FUTA ended, it was agreed to have senate meetings at

each university on autonomy, academic freedom and politicization. Despite this, the

government continues to attempt to violate the autonomy of our universities taking political

interference to an unprecedented level. The continuing controversy with the appointment of

the Vice-Chancellor of the UoC is one case in point. The UoP one of the oldest and most

prestigious of Sri Lankan universities (along with the UoC) has also not been spared. The

government appointed the least qualified candidate as VC of UoP, highlighting badgovernance

and vested interests. In an attempt to assert pressure on the VC to comply with

existing procedures, the Federation of Peradeniya University Teachers’ Associations

(FPUTA) officially met the newly appointed VC and communicated the importance of

winning the trust of the academic community he was appointed to lead. But this was not to

be: the DVC appointment at UoP which followed also reflected the will of government

backed administrators rather than the academic community. The person appointed had
antagonistic relations with both academics and students due to high handed and unethical
behaviour and no right-thinking administration would have selected such an individual to a
position of great responsibility. In protest, the Peradeniya Academic community through the
Union submitted a petition signed by members of all faculties, requesting the Vice
Chancellor to replace the Deputy Vice Chancellor. This was ignored.
To stall these unprecedented breaches on autonomy, the Peradeniya University
Community through FPUTA staged a token strike on 17th of December 2013. As there was
no positive response from the administration, the members withdrew from all the voluntary
positions that directly dealt with the Deputy Vice Chancellor.
FPUTA also resolved that its members will resort to agitations at crucial
events/junctures, as deemed necessary by the academic community to protest the
deterioration of university autonomy and academic freedom. The academic community is
also considering boycotting the convocation procession and the dinner this year. This is a
final resort since the academic community is fully aware and sensitive of the importance of
this occasion for students. This step is being considered reluctantly to protest against the
deplorable lack of sensitivity towards the will of the entire academic community of
Unversity of Peradeniya by the politicized administrators.
Members have also boycotted all meetings chaired by the DVC. Recently an entire
Faculty Board walked off in protest as the DVC tried to address this Faculty Board; now the
DVC does not try to address most faculty boards. Through these actions members were able
to register their protest and to challenge the unprecedented breaches of autonomy that are
taking place at the university.
Despite all these efforts to pressurize the administrators to do what is right, recent
events show the stubbornness of the administrators and their political backers. Recently
ignoring the decision of even the faculty board which (not to mention the will of the
academic community), the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine has paved the way through
devious means to allow ten students with dubious academic records to be admitted to the
MBBS programme. Furthermore, it is learnt that these students will be paying huge amounts
of money to compensate for what they lack in academic qualifications. Not stopping at this,
it is learnt that interested political masters and their flunkeys have threatened and
intimidated academics who protested against this decision. The authorities concerned clearly
wanted to change the Peardeniya Medical Faculty into a degree shop and sadly, university
administrators are letting it happen. Despite this, the faculty board of the medical faculty
stood resolutely by their principles and have been able to defeat this well planned initiative.
Similar stories of unprecedented ill-deeds are regularly disseminating from the
entire university system. We believe, now it is time for the academic community of Sri
Lanka to step up their fight to safeguard the university system in what is possibly the darkest
period of university education in this country. It is now time to stand united against the tides
of darkness that threaten not only our institutions, but also our dignity. It is now time to
fearlessly stand up for what we believe is right.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri,
President, FUTA

මේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අධ්‍යාපනයේ අදුරුතම කාල පරිච්ජේදයි – පේ. වි.වි. ආ. ස. (fputa)

Yukthiya.org, May 07, 2013

සමකාලීන විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයෙහි මූලික කාර්යභාරය වන්නේ අගතියෙන් තොරව සත්‍යය ගවේශනය පෙරදැරි කරගත් ඉගැන්වීම හා පර්යේෂනය යි. මෙම කාර්යභාරය ඉටුකර ගතහැකිවන්නේ: ඉගැන්වීම සහ පර්යේෂණ පවත්වාගෙන යාම සඳහා බුද්ධිමය නිදහස සහ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ස්වාධීනත්වය පවත්වා ගැනීම, ආවේනික හා ස්වාධීන ප‍්‍රමිතීන් / ප‍්‍රමුඛතා සහ දේශාන්තරත්වයට අදාළ අයුරින් විවිධ විෂයධාරා විකාශනය මගිනි. තව දුරටත්, ලිමා සහ බොලොඥ ප‍්‍රකාශන මගින් අවධාරණය කෙරෙනුයේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ස්වාධීන සංවිධාන ලෙස පවත්වාගැනීම මගින් ඒවා විවිධ සංස්කෘතීන්වලට අයත් ශිෂ්‍යයන් සහ පර්යේෂකයන් ආකර්ෂණය කරගැනීමේ වැදගත්කමයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් ස්වාධීනත්වය පිරිහීයාම දේශපාලනීකරණය වර්ධනය වීම හේතුවෙන් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල (ගෝලීය සන්දර්භය අනුව බලන කල්හි), විශ්වවිද්‍යාල තත්ත්වය නැතිව යාමේ අවදානමට ලක් වෙමින් පවතී. ගුණාත්මක අධ්‍යාපනයට ආයෝජනය කරන රජයක් ඒ සඳහා ප‍්‍රමාණවත් සම්පත් දායකත්වය සහතික කිරීමට අමතර ව අධ්‍යාපන නිදහස සහ ස්වාධීනත්වය ද සහතික කළ යුතුය.

දැනට ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා රජය පැහැදිලි වශයෙන් ම විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අධ්‍යාපනය, වෙළෙඳ භාණ්ඩයක් මෙන් සලකන අතර, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල සමායාත වස්තු වශයෙන් ද, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අධ්‍යන පරිපාලකයින් (උපකුලපති, සහාය උපකුලපතින්, පීඨාධිපතිවරුන් යන අය) ව්‍යාපාර කළමණාකරුවන් සේ සලකයි. රජය අපේක්‍ෂා කරනුයේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පරිපාලකයන් සිය වැඩසටහනට අනුගත වීම කෙරෙහි පමණකි.
මේ අනුව රජයේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පරිපාලකයන්ගෙන් පහත සඳහන් දෑ අපේක්‍ෂා කරයි.

01. සිය අභිමතයට අනුකූල ලෙසින් පීඨයන් පවත්වාගැනීම.
02. අවම සම්පත් ප‍්‍රමාණයක් ලබාදීම සහ වියදම් කපාහැරිම මගින් ලාබය ‘උපරිම‘ කරගැනීම.
03. ගුණාත්මක තෘතීයික අධ්‍යාපනයේ පරම නිර්නායකය වෙළෙ`දපොළ අවශ්‍යතා සපුරාගැනීම මගින් අධ්‍යාපනයේ අරමුණ මූලික වශයෙන් වෙනසකට භාජනය කිරිම.
04. මුදල් අයකෙරෙන පාඨමාලා ක‍්‍රමයෙන් හදුන්වාදීම මගින් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට බඳවාගැනීම සඳහා ගුණාත්මක අධ්‍යාපනයට වඩාමුදල් ගෙවීමේ හැකියාව නිර්නායකයක් සේ සැලකීම.

මේ අනුව විශ්වවිද්‍යාල උපාධි කඩ බවට නියතයෙන් ම පත්වන අතර මුලින් සඳහන් කළ පරිදි විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයන් හා බැදුණු ස්වාධීනත්වය සහ අධ්‍යාපන නිදහස සක‍්‍රීයව මැඩපවත්වනු ඇත. මෙය අපේක්‍ෂිත පෞද්ගලික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල මෙන්ම පවතින විශ්විද්‍යාල සඳහා ද වූ ක‍්‍රියා පිළිවෙත වනු ඇත.

වගකීමෙන් තොර දේශපාලන ගැත්තන් පරිපාලනයේ ප‍්‍රධාන තනතුරුවලට පත්කරගැනීමේ ශාපනයට අද ශ‍්‍රි ලංකාවේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්ධතියට වන්දි ගෙවීමට සිදු වී ඇත. පෙර නොවූ විරූ දේශපාලනීකරණය සහ ස්වාධීත්වය බිඳවැටීම හේතුවෙන් මෙම ආයතන ජනතාවගේ නෙතට ලක්වන්නේ සෘණාත්මක ආකාරයෙනි. මෙසේ වී ඇත්තේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ස්වාධීනත්වය සහ අධ්‍යාපන නිදහස අවබෝධ කරගැනීම සහ ගෞරවාන්විතව සැලකීමේ වැදගත්කම පරිපාලකයන්ට හා රජයට ඒත්තු ගැන්වීම සඳහා මහජනතාව උනන්දු කොට රජයට දැඩි පීඩනයක් ඇති කරනු වස් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යසංගමය සහ ශාඛා මගින් ගනු ලැබූ උත්සාහයන් ද පවතිත්දී ම ය.

විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය සංගමයේ අප විසින් වෘත්තිය සමිති ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ගය අවසන් වූ විට විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ස්වාධීනත්වය අධ්‍යාපන නිදහස සහ දේශපාලනීකරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඒ ඒ විශ්වවිද්‍යාග සනාතන සභාවාර පැවැත්වීමට තීරණයක් ගනු ලැබී ය. එසේ වුවත්, රජය දේශපාලන මැදිහත්වීම පෙර නොවු මට්ටමට ගෙන එමින් අපේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල ස්වාධීනත්වය උල්ලංඝනය කිරිම සඳහා වෙර ගනී. පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ උපකුලපතිවරයා පත්කිරීම දිගින් දිගට ම පවතින මතභේදයක් බවට පත්ව තිබීම මීට මනා නිදසුනකි. ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයන් අතර පැරණිතම වූවක් වන පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය (සිලෝන් යුනිවරිසිටිය ද ඇතුළත්ව) ද මින් ගැලවිය නොහැකි විය. පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය අවම සුදුසුකම් සහිත අපේක්‍ෂකයා රජය විසින් තෝරාගන්නා ලද්දේ සාවද්‍ය පාලනය සහ පෞද්ගලික වාසි ඉස්මතුවන ආකාරයෙනි. පවත්නා ක‍්‍රයා පිළිවෙත්වලට අනුකූලව ක‍්‍රියාකරවීම ඒත්තු ගැන්විම සදහා පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ආචාර්ය සංගමය (FPUTA) නව උපකුලපතිවරයා නිල වශයෙන් හමු වී තමා නායකත්වය ලබා දෙන ආචාර්ය සංගමයේ විශ්වාසය දිනාගැනීමේ වැදගත්කම පෙන්වා දෙන ලදී.

එහෙත් ඒ එසේ නොවී ය. නියෝජ්‍ය උපකලපති පත්කිරිම ද ඉන් පසු සිදු වූයේ ආචාර්ය සංගමය නොව රජයට පක්‍සපාතී පරිපාලකවරුන්ගේ අභිලාෂයනට අනුකූල අන්දමිනි. පත්කරනු ලැබූ පුද්ගලයා සිය හිතුවක්කාර සහ අධම චරියාවන් නිසා ශිෂයයන් මෙන් ම ආචාර්ය මණ්ඩලය මෙන් ම දෙපාර්ෂවය කෙරෙහි මෙන් ම විරෝධාකල්පයන් ඇත්තෙකු වූ හෙයින් වැදගත් වගකීම් දරණ නිලයකට මනා සිහියෙන් යුත් පරිපාලනයක් විසින් පත්කළ යුතුව නොතිබුණි. එයට විරෝධය පැමක් වශයෙන් සියලූ ම පීඨවල ආචාර්යවරුන් විසින් අත්සන් කරනු ලැබූ පෙත්සමක් සිය සංගමය විසින් නියෝජ්‍ය උපකුලපති තනතුරට වෙනත් කෙනෙකු පත්කිරිම සදහා ඉල්ලමින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලදී. එහෙත් එය නොසලකා හරින ලදී. මේ අන්දමින් ස්වාධීනත්වයට එරෙහිව පෙර නොවූ විරූ සම්බාධක නවත්වාලනු සදහා පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ආචාර්ය සංගමය විසින් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය සංගමය හරහා 2012 දෙසැම්බර් 17 වන දින සංකේත වැඩවර්ජනයක් පවත්වන ලදී. එයට පරිපාලනයෙන් ධනාත්මක ප‍්‍රතිචාරයක් නො ලැබුණ හෙයින් නියෝජ්‍ය උපකුලපති හා සෘජුව සම්බන්ධ සියලූ ස්වේච්ඡුා තනතුරුවලින් ඉවත්වීමට ආචාර්ය සංගමය තිරණය කරන ලදී.

එසේ ම විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ස්වාධිනත්වය සහ අධ්‍යන නිදහස පරිහානියට යාමට එරෙහිව තීරණාත්මක අවස්ථා සංසිද්ධි ආදියෙහි අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය විසින් තීරණය කරනු ලබන පරිදි විරෝධතා දක්වනු ඇත. මේ වසරේ උපාධි ප‍්‍රදානෝත්සවය සහ රාත‍්‍රී භෝජනයට සහභාගි වීමෙන් වැළකී සිටීමට ද අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය සලකා බලමින් සිටිති. මෙම අවස්ථාව ශිෂ්‍යනට කෙතරම් වැදගත් ද යන අවබෝධයෙන් සහ සංවේදිතාවයෙන් යුත් හෙයින් මෙය අවසාන උපාය මාර්ගයක් වනු ඇත. මෙබ`දු පියවරක් ගැන අකමැත්තෙන් හෝ සලකා බලමින් සිටිනුයේ පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ දේශපාලනීකරණය වූ පරිපාලකයන් විසින් සමස්ථ අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ අභිලාෂය කෙරෙහි දක්වන අධම මෙන් ම අසංවේදී බවට සිය විරෝධය දැක්වීම වශයෙනි. නියෝජ්‍ය උපකුලපති සහභාගි වන සියලූ රැුස්වීම් ද සාමාජිකයන් විසින් වර්ජනය කරනු ලැබ ඇත. මෑත දී නියෝජ්‍ය උපකුලපති විසින් පීඨ මණ්ඩලයක් ඇමතීමට උත්සාහ ගැනීමේ දී එම පීඨ මණ්ඩලය විසිර ගොස් ඇත. දැන් නියෝජ්‍ය උපකුලපතිවරයා විසින් පීඨ මණඩල ඇමතීමට උත්සාහ නො කරයි. මෙකී ක‍්‍රියා මගින් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල සිදුවන පෙර නොවූ විරූ ක‍්‍රියාවලට විරෝධතා මගින් අභියෝග කිරිම ද සාමාජිකයින්ට හැකි වී තිබේ.

නිසි දේ කිරිම සඳහා පාලකයින්ට බලපෑම් කිරීමට ගත් මෙබදු උත්සාහයන් පැවතිය ද මෑත සිදුවීම්වලින් පෙනී යන්නේ පාලකයින් හා ඔවුන්ට දිරි දෙන්නන් තුළ ඇති වූ දරදඩු ස්වභාවය යි. මෑත දී (අධයන කාර්ය මණඩලය පමණක් නොව) පීඨ සභාව ගත් තීරණ ද පසෙක ලා වෛද්‍ය පීඨයේ පීඨාධිපතිවරයා අනියම් ක‍්‍රම මගින් සැක සහගත අධ්‍යාපන වාර්තා සහිත සිසුන් දසදෙනෙකුට එම්. බී. බී. එස්. පාඨමාලාව ස`දහා මග සලසා ඇත. ලැබී ඇති ආරංචිවලට අනුව මෙම ශිෂ්‍යයන් විසින් සිය අධයාපන සුදුසුකම්වල අඩුපාඩු සදහා හිලව් වන පරිදි විශාල ධන සම්භාරයක් ගෙවනු ඇත. මෙයින් නොනැවතී එම තීරණවලට එරෙහි වී විරෝධතා දැක්වූ අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය සාමාජිකයන්ට තර්ජන ගර්ජන කිරිමට අදාළ දේශපාලන හාම්පුතුන් සහ ඔවුන්ගේ ගැත්තන් ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වූ බව ද සැල ය. අදාළ අදධිකාරින්ගේ පැහැදිලි අවශ්‍යතාව වී ඇත්තේ පේරාදෙණිය වෛද්‍ය පීඨය උපාධි කඩයක් බවට පත්කිරිම වන අතර කනගාටුවට කරුණ වන්නේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පාලකයින් විසින් ඊට ඉඩ සලසා දීම ය. එසේ වුවත් මනා සැලසුමකින් ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කළ මෙම උත්සාහය සිය මුල ධර්ම කෙරෙහි දැඩි ව බැ`දී සිටින වෛද්‍ය පීඨ සභාව විසින් ව්‍යර්ත කරනු ලැබ ඇත. පෙර නො ඇසූ විරූ මෙබදු අකටයුතුකම් පිළිබද පුවත් සමස්ථ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්ධතිය තුලින් මතුවන පුවත් අතර වේ. මේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අධයාපනයේ අදුරුතම කාල පරිච්ජේදය ලෙස හැදින්විය හැකි මෙම අවස්ථාවේ සිය අයිතිවාසිකම් රැකගැනීම සඳහා අරගලය තිව‍්‍ර කිරිමට ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකීය අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයට කාලය එළඹ ඇත යනු අප විශ්වාස කරමු. අපගේ ආයතනය පමණක් නොව අභිමානයට ද වින කරන අදුරදර්ශි නරුමයන්ට එරෙහිවීමට එක්සත්ව නැගී සිටීමට අවස්ථාව පැමිණ ඇත. අප නිවැරදි යැයි විශ්වාස කරන දේ වෙනුවෙන් නිර්භයව ඉදිරිපත් වීමේ අවස්ථාව එළඹ ඇත.

මීට – පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ සංගමය (fputa)

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රු. ලක්‌ෂ 75 කට වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය මිලට ගැනීමට පේරාදෙණි ගිය 9 දෙනාට පීඨයේ දොර වැසේ!

Divaina.com, 03/05/2013
නිලන්ත මදුරාවල

රුපියල් හැත්තෑපන් ලක්‍ෂයකට පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව එවූ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සිසුන් නව දෙනා පිළි නොගැනීමට එම වෛද්‍ය පීඨ මණ්‌ඩලය ඊයේ (2 වැනිදා) දහවල් තීරණය කළේය.

මෙම එක්‌ සිසුවකුගෙන් වසරකට රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ පහළොවක්‌ (15 ක්‌) හෙවත් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් දොළොස්‌දහසක්‌ අය කළ යුතු බව විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට ලිතව දැනුම් දී ඇත.

මෙම සිසුන්ගේ පැමිණීමත් සමග උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගයෙන් සමත්ව වෛද්‍ය පීඨයට ඇතුළත්ව සිටින සිසුන් අතර ඊයේ දැඩි නොසන්සුන්තාවක්‌ ඇති වී තිබිණි. පේරාදෙණිය වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය මෙලෙස මුදලට අලෙවි කිරීමේ ක්‍රියා මාර්ගයට විරෝධය පළ කරමින් සිසුහු ඊයේ දහවල් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල භූමියේදී සත්‍යග්‍රහයක ද නිරත වූහ.

වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය මුදලට ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා පැමිණි සිසුන් නවදෙනා වෛද්‍ය පීඨ සිසුන් ලෙස පිළිනොගැනීමට පීඨ මණ්‌ඩලය තීරණය කළේ සිසුන්ගේ සත්‍යග්‍රහ විරෝධතාවෙන් පසුවය. ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව විසින් යවන ලද ශිෂ්‍ය නාමලේඛනයේ මුස්‌ලිම් හා දෙමළ සිසුහු දෙදෙනා බැගින් සිටිති.

විදේශයන්හි අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබූ මෙම ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සිසුන් වෛද්‍ය පීඨයට ඇතුළත් කළේ කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩල තීරණයක්‌ අනුව යෑයි මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් "දිවයින" කළ විමසුමකට පිළිතුරු දුන් ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරියෙක්‌ පැවසීය. මේ අයුරින් ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර, රුහුණ, කැලණිය හා රජරට යන විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයන්හි වෛද්‍ය පීඨයන්ට ද සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කර සිටින බවත් හෙතෙම කීවේය.

විදේශයන්හි අධ්‍යාපනය ලබන ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් රාජ්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවලට ඇතුළත් කිරීම සඳහා පැවැති සියයට දශම පහක ප්‍රතිශතය මේ වන විට සියයට පහ දක්‌වා වැඩිකර ඇති බවත් මෙම සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කර සිටින්නේ ඒ අනුව බවත් එම නිලධාරියා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

මෙම සිසුන් තෝරා ගත්තේ ඒ ඒ වෛද්‍ය පීඨවල පීඨාධිපතිවරුන් බවද එම තෝරා ගැනීම් සඳහා ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව සම්බන්ධ නොවූ බවද එම නිලධාරියා තවදුරටත් කියා සිටියේය. සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කිරීම නීත්‍යනුකූලව සිදුකර තිබෙන බවද පීඨ මණ්‌ඩලය, ඔවුන් ඇතුළත් කරන අවස්‌ථාවේ විරෝධයක්‌ දක්‌වා නැති බවද එම නිලධාරියා සඳහන් කළේය.

එමෙන්ම කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලය ගත් තීරණයක්‌ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ඕනෑම ආයතනයක්‌ බැඳී සිටින බවත් හෙතෙම ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

Sleeping Left On May Day

Colombo Telegraph, 03/05/2013

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, DEW Gunasekara and Tissa Vitarana at Socialist Alliance May Day stage – Photo by a member of FUTA

Islamic Culture And The Challenge Of Buddhist Fundamentalism

 Colombo Telegraph, 03/05/2013

By Liyanage Amarakeerthi -

Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi

When I heard about the Boston explosions I had many hopes. First, I hoped that my teacher, who is at Harvard, was safe. Second, I hoped no one was killed. Third, I hoped there was no any Muslim connection to the explosion. Finally, I hoped Boston, one of my favourite American cities, liberal, leftwing, cosmopolitan and intellectually bent, was not disrupted by any fundamentalist attacks, internal or external.

I found out soon enough that my teacher was safe. Sadly, some people died, including an eight-year old boy- someone from my son’s generation. America has its own fundamentalists. When it goes to war, America (Washington) itself is fundamentalist. International terrorism is a real problem and all fundamentalists are party to that terrorism. America’s not-so-democratic acts in the past also keep following like the cart behind the oxen as it has in a Dhammapada verse. In Sri Lanka too we have to be mindful of our collective Karma.

My third hope was much more Sri Lankan than personal. In Sri Lanka, Bodu Bala Sena (‘the army of Buddhist power’) – the newest and crudest version of Sinhala nationalism- is up against Sri Lankan Muslims, claiming that they are invading the social, cultural, economic spheres, pushing aside the Sinhala majority. I do not know the factual position. But the rhetoric seems to suggest something much more dangerous than the facts (even if they are correct) ever could. Some of the BBS (or of the populace attracted to the organization) accusations are really absurd: some Muslim-owned clothing store (a chain of shops in fact) is selling an incredible female underwear that makes Sinhala women barren. The argument is that this shop chain is part of a Muslim conspiracy to reduce the Sinhala population in the country.

World Literature: A Reader (Routledge, 2013) Editors: Prof. Cesar Domingues et al

One of my friends from Scotland wanted to buy that particular underwear so that he can control the population growth in his country. But, according to the BBS, that underwear only upsets the workings of the relevant organs ofSinhala-Buddhistwomen! So, he did not buy it. Apart from these absurd claims, there is a real lack of understanding between the two communities for which the civil society of both communities is responsible. It is the lack of understanding that gives rise to these absurd urban myths, which are more political than factual. America too had them: McCarthyism was a result of that and McCarthyism is not totally gone.

I do not know what kinds of myths Muslim fundamentalists in Sri Lanka are propagating against Sinhala people. There must be some equally funny ones. Fundamentalisms are fun if no one believes them; but many do. Sinhala people certainly do: look at Facebook.

Anyway, I hoped that there was nothing Muslim about the Boston bombing because the Sinhala racist BBS who would have benefited by it. (The BBS leaders were to visit the US when the explosion occurred. There is an argument that the US is happy for the BBS because they are against Muslims: I hope the argument is wrong.) They would have claimed that their fight against Sri Lankan Muslims was right and based on facts. Yes. Islamic fundamentalism is much more global than Sinhala fundamentalism and we all have to be aware of that fact while being cognizant that US imperialism actually helps Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic civilization, however, is not all about fundamentalisms or parochialisms. It has a great history of mutual understanding and sharing. Amartaya Sen’s Argumentative Indian (2005) describes some aspects of it. According to Sen, there were some Muslim kings and queens who encouraged democratic debate and participated in them. They saw themselves as Indians not as Arabs.

Scholarly work

There are a significant number of scholarly works highlighting Islamic contributions to human civilization. The Ornament of the World, by Professor Maria Rosa Menocal shows how Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities contributed to the creation of European culture in medieval Spain. Living in Spain when writing this essay, I can see even today hues and flavours of Islam and Arabic culture in an ancient city like Santiago de Compostela, even though the beautiful city is markedly Catholic.

Many Indian scholarly works on Urdu and Hindi literature show how Islamic culture contributed to the making of modern literary cultures in South Asia. The new literary genres brought to South Asia by Islamic scholars and writers made our literary culture even richer. Ghazal would be a famous example. Professor Shamur Rahman Faruqui’s excellent book Early Urdu Literary Culture and History is one of those books I studied with one of the great teachers of mine: Professor Muhammad Umar Memon. When reading Faruqui’s book I always wondered why Sri Lankan Muslim scholars could not engage in such studies. I am still to see a systematic study of Sri Lankan Muslim literature. There may be things in Tamil, I am sure. But our Muslim scholars must present such studies in a way that deepens our inter-ethnic understanding. One aim of their scholarship must be to develop a dialogue with the Sinhala community. To say that is not a pro-majority argument but a cosmopolitan one.

Only my friend, a brilliant poet and scholar, Professor M. A. Nuhman, has made such an attempt worth noting. His recent interview with the Sinhala daily Janarala was a window to the heart of a moderate and liberal Muslim intellectual. We need more like him. (There are some books by Nilar N. Casim, but they are more journalistic than scholarly).

Creating new knowledge

Three days after the Boston bombs, Professor Cesar Dominquez, a rising star in the field of Comparative Literature in Europe, showed me his copy of a brand new book that Routledge has published this year: World Literature: A Reader. It is edited by Theo D’haen, Mada Rosendhal Thomson and Dominguez himself. This collection of essays is sure to enrich our knowledge of the globally-rooted human activity called ‘literary writing.’ But the first essay of the book immediately captured my attention. I borrowed the book right away because there was something in it I want to share with Sri Lankan readers as soon as possible in this age of Bodu Bala Sena.

The essay is an excerpt from a book written by a Spanish Jesuit scholar named Juan Andres and published between 1782 and 1799. Its translator, Cesar Dominguez and the editors, widen our knowledge on the concept of world literature by presenting it as the first chapter of the book. The origin of the concept of “world literature” in the West is often attributed to Goethe. This piece shows that the concept has somewhat older antecedents in Europe. Juan Andres has undertaken to write a multi-volume literary history in Italian under the title of On the Origin, Progress and the Present State of All Literature covering Persian, Indian, Chinese and Arabic literatures, in addition literature in European languages. During the author’s lifetime alone, the book has gone into many editions.

The book is significant in more than one way. One of the features I like to highlight in this short essay is Juan Andres’ unfailing acknowledgement of the contribution of non-European people to the making of world literature. He points out that modern European literature is indebted to Arabic literature, for the latter has enriched the former by “re-establishing the belles lettres” or artistic writing.

“The Arabs”, continues Andres, “with their translations and studies, partly increased Greek science and, via Spain, introduced the natural sciences into Europe. They also, by cultivating all the branches of the belles lettres, gave rise to both a new kind of poetry in our regions and improved our culture and our vernacular languages. Literature was, therefore, reborn in Europe.”

Observe the Jesuit-priest author’s generous words in appreciating Arabic (Islamic) contribution to modern world literature. He also praises Indian and Chinese literature in words that were difficult to find in those early days of “Orientalism”.

Understanding ourselves anew

We in Sri Lanka must understand anew our shared humanity and culture rather than falling into the traps of cultural purisms. In this, the Buddhist fundamentalism of Bodu Bala Sena is not going to help us, and, in fact, they are there to destroy our collective memory of commonality. The ideological fathers of this group are still to say a word about their uncultured progeny. Having heard savagely racist speeches the leaders of BBS made in Kandy it is a euphemism to call them ‘uncultured.’ The response to this group from moderate Muslims is far from appealing and convincing. I did not see any Muslim intellectuals saying anything, in Sinhala or English, asking both Sinhala and Muslim communities to understand their shared history and culture that go back many centuries.

Sinhala community has to realize that our Sinhalaness is a product of many cultural sharings and borrowings. If we were to give away supposedly Muslim elements in our food, so-called Sinhala cuisine will be devoid of some its great flavours and some subtle taste buds in our ‘Sinhala’ tongues will be dried up like fish without water.

People like Samuel Huntington have set up a trap for us in South Asia. Huntington was an ideologue of the American right and of American imperialism and his Clash of Civilizations is a programmatic text for American imperialism. The way he describes the world in it is too simple, flat and one-dimensional. Just remember the way he casts the world under monolithic identities. For example, India for him, for example, is Hindu. He ignores the fact that so-called Hindu India is a fine mixture of many cultures, differences and languages. For Huntington, Sri Lanka is just Buddhist: no wonder some Buddhist nationalists are big fans of this American rightwing ideologue.

Groups like BBS are too dangerous to ignore but too parochial to take seriously. While watching what they are doing, it is better for us all communities to understand our shared history, shared everyday life. The week Bodu Bala Sena came to Kandy I started my lectures on Comparative Literature at Peradeniya, and my first reading assignment was three stories by Sri Lankan Muslim writers from the collection Asalawesi Api, edited by Professors Carmen Wickramagamage and M. A. Nuhman. In those stories, the feelings of attachment to certain villages, soil, farmland and so on in those Muslim villagers were very similar to ours. Those students who read them rejoiced in the discovery of commonness found in them.

Yet again, I heard there were so many university students at the BBS rally, cheering the racist speeches. It is very easy to instigate communal feelings and it does not take a whole lot of learning to do so. To understand how communities collectively create cultures and civilizations, one needs some effort and learning.

We can either take up that challenge or sadly observe a country that has a great cosmopolitan history and culture disintegrate into fragments from which we will never find our cultural or human wholeness and wholesomeness.

When I end this essay, I wish I could sit with the Jesuit priest Juan Andres to have a cup of tea (or coffee if he prefers,) who wanted to write a literary history in which he was to pay tribute to every human community that contributed to making of notion of literature: one of the greatest human creations. I will never have that sense of belonging to the likes of the BBS leaders, in spite of my Buddhist upbringing, even if tea or coffee is replaced with a bottle of arrack! Arrack is one of those Sri Lankan cultural products, Cumaratunga Munidasa, a great defender of arrack industry in the country, would have agreed, which is too good to share with racists!

*Writer is a senior lecturer at department of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya, and visiting scholar at university of Santiago, Spain

FUTA May Day Media Statement - 2013

Download FUTA May Day Media Statement 2013

The 1st of May is an important day for Trade Unions. It is a day when the rights of the working people are celebrated and where the battles that were fought to protect the rights and dignity of working people all over the world are celebrated and remembered. 

Education is of vital importance for the working people. In Sri Lanka, the free education system enabled many generations of working people to seek a better future for their children. The Federation of University Teachers’ Association therefore, decided to use this occasion to generate awareness of the threats to free education faced by the people of Sri Lanka today. We are aware of the fact that the gradual shift of the financial burden of education on parents and families due to the government’s systematic withdrawal from the state education system has serious financial consequences of working people. We believe it is extremely important that the politically conscious working population of Sri Lanka, who will be celebrating May Day today are also made fully aware of the crisis in the education sector. 

The campaign launched last year by the FUTA to demand that the government allocate 6% of GDP for Education and Save State Education was re-launched on the 2nd of April this year. The FUTA’s awareness raising campaign on May Day this year is one of the several events that we have planned in taking this campaign forward. 

We are confident that the working people of this country will hear our message and join us in our campaign. We hope the government as well as all political parties heed the voice of the people and take all steps to ensure that the legacy of free education in this country will not be destroyed. 

Save State Education! 

Allocate 6% of GDP for Education! 

Let us join hands to prevent the commodification of Education!