Autocracy In Higher Education And The Impending ‘Academic Spring’
Dr. Laksiri Fernando
There is an impending confrontation between the university academics and the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) as the media spokesman for the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA), Dr Devaka Weerakoon, has very clearly stated that they would go ahead with their continuous strike action on 4thJuly as their main demands are not only about salaries but primarily on funding for the university education.
The FUTA is asking the government to commit towards 6 per cent of the
GDP for higher education, which is the UNESCO benchmark, as the present
contribution is abysmally low as 0.4 per cent, one of the lowest in the
world. This increase can be gradual, if the government can promise a
substantial increase in the coming future, otherwise the whole system
might collapse. Out of the annual budgetary expenditure, the
contribution on higher education is only around 1.5 per cent, whereas
the expenditure on security is almost ten times.
If the present trends go ahead, Sri Lanka might become a military hub, but not a knowledge hub.
There is already a knowledge hub in Sri Lanka and that is the university
system. Before Sri Lanka becoming a knowledge hub in Asia or in the
‘whole world,’ this existing knowledge hub should be properly maintained
and managed or otherwise the whole wheel of education might collapse.
There are indications that the collapse has already started. No one is
against the government having lofty ambitions in any of the five hubs
declared. But action should match the ambitions, and ambitions should be
realistic. Mere rhetoric is not sufficient.
