Oh, our universities – Learn from Singapore
Editorial
Times Higher Education World University rankings (2012), which were released last week provided yet another sad indictment of the crumbling state of affairs of the institutions of higher learning and research in this country. Rather predictably though, not a single Sri Lanka university made it into the top 400 universities in the world. According to another ranking formula of global universities, known as Webometrics, the University of Colombo is ranked at 1681. The University of Moratuwa is 2010 and the University of Peradeniya is 2466. As far as the University of Peradeniya is concerned, it is a sad indictment of an academia, which, at its outset under its first vice chancellor, Sir Ivor Jennings, held so much promise and potential.
The standing of local universities among its international counterparts and the quality of education provided by them vis-à-vis their international competitors had been on the decline since the 70s. By the late 60s, many an academic would have noticed that local centres of higher learning were destined to die a slow death; the root cause of the gradual decay being the compulsory Swabasha education which was forced upon the students in 1956. That short sighted populist decision taken, rather paradoxically by Oxford educated prime minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike – whose offspring, nonetheless, had the privilege of studying in top French and British universities – blinded generations after generations of sons and daughters of the common man. And, a lucky and fortunate few, who escaped the curse of monolingualism, later left for greener pastures when it became evident that the statist economic policies in the 70s and crony capitalism in the 80s had only produced collective penury.
Yet, some faculties in our universities are still islands of excellence. They still produce world class graduates. But, net migration rate of the alumni of high-end degree courses taught in the Universities of Moratuwa, Colombo and Peradeniya is on par with those rates of Indian schools of Technology, India’s only world class universities, which are known, in addition to high, quality education, for the exodus of graduates heading to the United States of America soon after their graduation. The bottom line is that the country is deprived of the benefits of its investment on education.
Sri Lanka’s university system has failed to deliver. We state that empathetically, not simply because of the poor showing of local universities in international rankings, but due to the multifaceted problems that continue to beset local universities.
First and foremost is the low public investment in universities. To make matters worse, cash-strapped local universities are being compelled to increase the number of student intakes each year. The focus on quantity over quality is eroding the academic reputation of local institutions. Without adequate public funding, the local university system is condemned to a slow death.
However, let’s assume that the government would proactively increase budgetary allocations for universities. That would however not provide an automatic solution to many other inherent problems that beset our university system. Read mo re..
EditorialTimes Higher Education World University rankings (2012), which were released last week provided yet another sad indictment of the crumbling state of affairs of the institutions of higher learning and research in this country. Rather predictably though, not a single Sri Lanka university made it into the top 400 universities in the world. According to another ranking formula of global universities, known as Webometrics, the University of Colombo is ranked at 1681. The University of Moratuwa is 2010 and the University of Peradeniya is 2466. As far as the University of Peradeniya is concerned, it is a sad indictment of an academia, which, at its outset under its first vice chancellor, Sir Ivor Jennings, held so much promise and potential.
The standing of local universities among its international counterparts and the quality of education provided by them vis-à-vis their international competitors had been on the decline since the 70s. By the late 60s, many an academic would have noticed that local centres of higher learning were destined to die a slow death; the root cause of the gradual decay being the compulsory Swabasha education which was forced upon the students in 1956. That short sighted populist decision taken, rather paradoxically by Oxford educated prime minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike – whose offspring, nonetheless, had the privilege of studying in top French and British universities – blinded generations after generations of sons and daughters of the common man. And, a lucky and fortunate few, who escaped the curse of monolingualism, later left for greener pastures when it became evident that the statist economic policies in the 70s and crony capitalism in the 80s had only produced collective penury.
Yet, some faculties in our universities are still islands of excellence. They still produce world class graduates. But, net migration rate of the alumni of high-end degree courses taught in the Universities of Moratuwa, Colombo and Peradeniya is on par with those rates of Indian schools of Technology, India’s only world class universities, which are known, in addition to high, quality education, for the exodus of graduates heading to the United States of America soon after their graduation. The bottom line is that the country is deprived of the benefits of its investment on education.
Sri Lanka’s university system has failed to deliver. We state that empathetically, not simply because of the poor showing of local universities in international rankings, but due to the multifaceted problems that continue to beset local universities.
First and foremost is the low public investment in universities. To make matters worse, cash-strapped local universities are being compelled to increase the number of student intakes each year. The focus on quantity over quality is eroding the academic reputation of local institutions. Without adequate public funding, the local university system is condemned to a slow death.
However, let’s assume that the government would proactively increase budgetary allocations for universities. That would however not provide an automatic solution to many other inherent problems that beset our university system. Read mo re..
