Sri Lanka Students and Academics Rally over
Education

BBC
August 23, 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19348839

About 2,000 teachers and students held a mass
rally in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, a day after
the government shut down most universities.

Academics have been on strike since the beginning
of July, demanding more money for education and
less of what they see as government interference.

Strikers oppose plans for private-sector involvement
in universities, which have always had state
funding.

But the authorities have accused teachers of playing
political games.

They have said that academics, who are also
demanding a salary increase, are trying to topple the
government.

"Save state education" was the slogan towering
above the podium in a park where speakers using
fiery rhetoric pronounced higher education to be in
danger, reports the BBC's Charles Haviland in
Colombo.

Organisers of the colourful rally, staged by the main
union of academics, wore orange and maroon T-
shirts with the words "Six Percent", which is the
proportion of gross domestic product academics say
should be spent on education overall.

They say this is a benchmark figure set by the UN,
but that the figure in Sri Lanka keeps falling and it
is now below 2%.

And Sri Lanka's educational crisis is spreading, our
correspondent warns.

Schoolteachers are now threatening not to mark A-
level exam papers as they say they need academics'
input to do this.

__________

Sri Lanka Shuts Down 13 of its 15 State-funded
Universities

TruthDive
August 23, 2012

http://truthdive.com/2012/08/23/sri-lanka-shuts-down-13-of-its-15-state-funded-universities.html

Posted by Karthiyayini

Colombo

University academics have been on a strike in Sri
Lanka since early July this year demanding higher
spends in education sector and salary hikes and
blaming the government for its increased political
interference in campus life.

In a blunt response to this strike by academics, the
Sri Lankan government has shut down 13 of its 15
state-funded universities except the medical schools
for an indefinite period thus putting the future of
education in darkness in the island nation.

University campuses in Sri Lanka have been the
originating points for mayhem and commotion in
the nation for decades. BBC reports say that
students' problems helped trigger the Tamil
insurgency as well as equally bloody Sinhalese
insurrections in the 1970s and 80s.

Higher authorities in the government accuse the
academics of attempting to overthrow the
government. The higher education minister SB
Dissanayake said that their (the trade union's) aim
is to create instability and a political crisis leading
to a regime change.

While the government maintains that it has already
agreed to five of their six key demands, the
spokesman for the academics' main union, Mahim
Mendis, told the BBC that this simply was not true.
He added that the "politicization and militarization"
of universities must come to an end.

Loyalists of ministers are said to have been
appointed for top university posts currently. Mahim
Mendis added that this is a national struggle and
the suggestion that they want a change of regime is
frivolous.

He also condemned a proclamation persuading
universities to use security agencies run by the
ministry of defence and he criticised a two-week
programme of compulsory military-led training
which all university freshers now have to undergo.

Secondary education has also been in disorder here,
with a large-scale scandal involving ineffectiveness
in the marking of school-leaving exam papers.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin
Silva said that the solution does not lie in closing
down the universities which would eventually lead
to the toppling of the government.

Silva suggested that the government should instead
take steps to bring the strike to an end. He also
warned that they would take to strong political
action if the government continues to put the
country's education sector in the dark.
_________

Sri Lanka Government Shuts Down Universities

By Charles Haviland
BBC News
August 22, 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19325358

Colombo

Sri Lanka's government has closed down almost all
universities for an indefinite period amid a row
about the future of education in the island.

Academics have been on strike for nearly two
months, accusing the government of interference
and demanding more be spent on the sector.

The authorities say teachers are putting students in
a position of "darkness, without any hope".

For decades, university campuses have been a
source of turmoil in Sri Lanka.

Students' problems helped trigger the Tamil
insurgency as well as equally bloody Sinhalese
insurrections in the 1970s and 80s.

Security row

Since early July academics have been on strike in
Sri Lanka. They denounce government plans to
partially privatise a tertiary education system that
has always been state-funded and free.

They want an end to what they say is political
meddling in campus life. They want much more
spent on education overall and they are demanding
a salary increase.

The government has now responded by closing
down 13 of Sri Lanka's 15 state-funded universities,
apart from their medical faculties, with no
indication of when they might reopen.

They have also accused academics of trying to
topple the government.

"Their [the trade union's] aim is to create instability
and a political crisis leading to a regime change, we
guess," higher education minister SB Dissanayake
said.

Military training

The government says it has already agreed to five of
the academics' six main demands. But the
spokesman for the academics' main union, Mahim
Mendis, told the BBC this simply wasn't true.

He said that the "politicisation and militarisation" of
universities must end. At the moment, he said,
ministers were appointing their own loyalists to top
university posts.

"To suggest we want regime change is frivolous. You
need to understand, Futa [the union] includes
academics from all political parties. This is a
national struggle," he added.

He also denounced an edict compelling universities
to use security companies run by the ministry of
defence and he criticised a two-week programme of
military-led training which all university entrants
now have to undergo.

Secondary education has also been in turmoil here,
with a large-scale scandal involving incompetence
in the marking of school-leaving exam papers.

___________________________________________

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