Of those FUTA statements

August 11, 2013, 9:01 pm 

It has never been clear whether statements made (and given much space) by its current president, Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, represent the views of FUTA or are his own. Or, indeed, whether they are made at the behest of some powerful person/s.

‘FUTA’ or its ‘spokesman’ has been prompt to call for the dismissal, in that order (!), of the new Army Commander and of the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence over Weliveriya. Incidentally, was such a demand made over the shooting on unarmed workers of the FTZ?

On matters that are more pertinent to the responsibilities of its members, however, ‘FUTA’ has had little to say. For example, the primary effect or target of the protracted dislocations caused in the education system by the FUTA strike for even more pay for its members, many of them under-qualified and / or incompetent, was the infrastructure established through many decades to provide affordable access to tertiary education for students from under-privileged families. I may have missed ‘FUTA Statements’ on the imperative for investing in primary and secondary schools, including teacher- training, as a necessary step towards preparing children for study at tertiary institutions including technical colleges. Perhaps, unbeknown to the general public who pay the taxes that support our universities, FUTA has prepared and submitted memoranda on the processes appropriate to the recruitment and promotion of the academic staff. I recall a senior Professor telling the Council of the RAS of piles of newspaper articles submitted as proof of scholarship for promotion to the grade of Professor. We await a ‘statement’ from the members of FUTA, drafted via due process of consultation, on what is referred to as the ‘privatisation’ of our universities. Such a statement should, of course, cover all aspects of the question – from the curricula to the selection of faculty and students, to the terms of transfer of infrastructure that we have paid for, to State subsidies to these businessmen, to the ‘market’ towards which such students are to be directed. Am sure there are many persons within the education system whose views on these matters the public would welcome.

Gamini Seneviratne