Lakbimanews Editorial -September 3, 2012
The headline of this editorial resonates a self explanatory slogan of the
Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and with that we express our solidarity with the on-going campaign for higher budgetary allocation for education. Public spending on education has been on the downward spiral since the early 1970s and it has been on a free fall in recent years. Sri Lanka spent 3.98 per cent of GDP on education in 1970, which declined to 2.9 per cent by 2005. The national expenditure on education has since seen a rapid decline, hitting below 2 per cent (1.9) this year. According to the most recent data on the government spending on public education, we are ranked at 190 out of 205 countries in the world, ahead Republic of Congo — not to be mistaken for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the most wretched places on the globe, which is also ranked 9 slots below us (Source: World Bank). We are losing out and even some of the least developed countries are on a spending spree on social infrastructure, including health and education in order to leapfrog in economic development. On average, Sub Saharan Africa spends 4.7 per cent of GDP on education. Among our neigbours, the Maldives spent 11 per cent on education in 2009.
The apathy on the part of the government is disturbing. What is further worrying is that, due to the continuous neglect of the government, Sri Lanka is missing out yet another historic opportunity to transform itself into a knowledge economy. A previous opportunity to leapfrog the nation from an agrarian economy to a Newly Industrial Country (NIC), alongside the Tiger economies in Southeast Asia was lost due to a brutal civil war, and stems from repeated and deliberate blunders committed in the nation building exercise since independence.
Countries such as Malaysia which aims to be a developed nation and a knowledge economy by 2020, on average, spends 8 per cent of GDP on education. Needless to say our failure to pick development priorities is glaring. A country which spends Rs200 billion on defence to sustain a large and redundant peacetime army has failed to spend one third of that amount on its schools and universities.
The systemic failures in the education system, ranging from the decline in international reputation of local universities, to the recurrent blunders in national exams, which this year has delayed the university admission of 20,000 students are symptoms of an impending, much dangerous collapse of our education system, largely due to neglect and low public investment. Our universities, once the centres of academic excellence have lost their glamour. The top 10 per cent of their graduates migrate to greener pastures, seeking better employment opportunities and the bottom 30 per cent of the university intake take to the streets, demanding government jobs. Our university dons are paid the lowest salaries even by South Asian standards and many who leave for higher education in the West never return. This status quo has been in place for the last 30 years and now, at last, university academics have decided to rally, demanding a qualitative improvement in the system, and more funding for education. We salute them for that act of courage.
However, higher budgetary allocations are not a panacea for the ills in the education system. The government monopoly in the education system, mainly in higher education is equally responsible for the gradual decay in our university system. In the absence of competition, our universities have been enveloped by a sense of complacency and the recent international ranking of Sri Lankan universities, none of which come within the top 1000 universities in the world, is a reminder of the pathetic conditions of our centres of higher learning. Student activists and academics alike, who have vehemently been opposing the setting up of private universities stand condemned for their share of the rot in our universities. It is time for Sri Lanka to truly revamp its education policy, drastically increase its investment on education and to embark on a concerted plan to regain the lost glory of its centres of higher learning.
Hey you don’t get it! The Rajapassa Bros who run Lanka do not have a single basic Bachelors degree among the 4 of them! The so-called economic development minister was a high school drop out who worked as a petrol pump attendant in California.. So what to you expect – they dont like educated people who ask questions and thing critically..
Today, FUTA will find that its mandate is growing – it has to step up to playing the role of PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS and save Lanka from the Rajapassa Family dictatorship and the rule of barbarians and help restore norms and civility in public life! The people of Lanka are giving and have given FUTA a historic mission to educate the people on the real meaning of SOCIAL AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT which puts people first. FUTA needs to lead the liberation struggle for Lankan to get rid of the corrupt, militarized and brutal Rajapassa regime..
Thus these Rajapakssas do not like FUTA and educated people ‘cos they ask questions and the family dictatorship cannot stand up to intelligent questions from people who know that the regime is a bunch of rapacious crooks and thugs pretending to national liberators.. Never mind the brain drain of professions from Lanka that Rajapassa wants to continue, even the poor and uneducated are voting with their feet and leaving the country as boat people and housemaids and labourers to Korea. Rajapassa has no real plan to develop Lanka, merely to loot it and fill his pockets.. Nationalism is paying diminishing returns to the regime at this time!
Chennai: Sri Lankan pilgrims traveling in buses were targeted twice today by protesters in Tamil Nadu.
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The Commander of the Rajapaksaland who ordered the massacre of thousands of Tamils a few years back has taken immediate steps to stop the killing of hundreds of goats in Munneswaran.
(Lanka-e-News -02.Sep.2012, 11.00PM) Govt. sponsored election violence had begun ! The election campaign offices of the UNP and the JVP in connection with the forthcoming East PC elections at Padiyatalawa, Kehelulla, , Jerankada, Palathuruwella, Pallegama areas had been set fire to and destroyed on the 1st between 11.00 p.m. and 12.00 midnight, by the Govt. Goons and arsonists. When the JVP office at Kehelulla was being set fire to , the inmates of the office were chased away by firing into the air by the arsonists , according to JVP candidate R M Anura Rajapakse.
Although four million Canadians are members of unions, organized labour is nonetheless facing shrinking coverage across Canada’s work force.
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9:17 amFirst, we have to save 10 per cent our development, OK.
And later we will consider about your 6 percent about education development.