Claiming that the country's higher education sector has been greatly affected by the prevailing economic crisis, Opposition Parliamentarian, Prof. G.L. Peiris said that the duty and responsibility of the Government should not be to establish new universities and higher education institutions, but to improve the quality of the existing institutions.
Commenting in Parliament yesterday (5) on the statement made by President and Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ranil Wickremesinghe noting that that several universities and higher education institutions would be established anew, he said that there are no universities in the country with all the required facilities at present, and added that historical factors have led to that situation. In that context, he said that the Government should focus on enhancing the quality of the existing institutions rather than planning new establishments.
“The President said that several new universities would be established, that four private higher education institutions would be made universities, and that Provincial Councils would be given powers to establish universities. Now, can the required human and physical resources be sourced for these universities and higher educational institutions? There are not enough university teachers at present. It is doubtful if resources could be found for new establishments, and that their quality could be maintained. The University Grants Commission should pay attention to this matter,” he said.
Prof. Peiris, who is also a former Education Minister and Vice Chancellor, further commented on the migration of university teachers in large numbers in the midst of the economic crisis, and said that it would take years for the issue to be solved.
“Brain drain is the most difficult part of this crisis. I think that it would take at least two generations to solve that issue. Even in the past, university teachers had the chance to go abroad and earn seven to eight times more than what they earned here, but they did not leave the country. However, they face many difficulties at present, especially the unfair taxes.”
Presenting the Budget for the year 2024 to Parliament last month, Wickremesinghe elaborated on the plans to establish four new universities considering the current trends, for the technical sector. Among them are the Seethawaka Science and Technology University (the Lalith Athulathmudali Post Graduate Institute will be incorporated to this University), the Technology University in Kurunegala under the Kotelawala Defence University, the Management and Technology University, and the International University of Climate Change. He also proposed the adoption of rules and regulations to convert the National School of Business Management, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, the Horizon Campus, and the Royal Institute, into universities.