Demands Of University Dons: Who’s Gone Cuckoo?
One can only thank Mr. C.A.Chandraprema for choosing an apt title ‘University Dons in Cuckoo land’ for his article published in the Sunday Divaina and Sunday Island of 4th August.
By Amal S. Kumarage -August 9, 2012
Prof. Amal S. Kumarage
One can only thank Mr. C.A.Chandraprema for choosing an apt title ‘University Dons in Cuckoo land’ for his article published in the Sunday Divaina and Sunday Island of 4th August.
There is no disagreement that is exactly where university dons have been for the last several years. The difference now is that finally they have realized how ‘cuckoo’ they have been to believe that Sri Lanka is marching towards a Knowledge Hub when over the last 6 years the reality is that funding per university student has been gradually reduced; students per staff ratio increased; attempts to use university positions for political purposes has increased and above all the university community is kept out of discussions of urgently needed reforms in the education sector.
The Difficulty of Finding Academics
From last year, dons who up to then had agitated only when their salary levels fell below embarrassment (as in 1996 and 2011) have realized that inadequate salaries are only the tip of the iceberg of problems facing them. The bigger problem is what lies below the surface. That is what the academia has been struggling to bring to the notice of the Government and also the public. The spending on education which was 5.2% of GDP in 1971 has now reduced to 1.9%. The admission rate of students qualifying at the GCE AL exam to proceed to university has remained at 15% for the last two decades. More than 1/3rd of the academic cadre posts in universities are vacant at this time for want of suitable applicants. Of the people who have filled theses posts, over 50% have just first degrees at present and yet to qualify to teach. The percentage of funds allocated for research in most universities cannot be even calculated as there are none! Even in the Government budget only 0.05% percent of GDP was allocated in 2012 for all research and development when global knowledge hubs exceed 2 and sometimes 3 percent! So it is true that university dons have been in cuckoo land all this while, expecting the political promises of the transformation of universities to centres of excellence and to global knowledge hubs when we have in fact being taken in the opposite direction.
