Are universities in Sri Lanka beacons of hope, optimism and innovation?

 The recent protests in Sri Lanka largely by university students reflect their distrust and frustration of the system that has gone wrong - Pic by Ruwan Walpola

• Insights from the recent public protests 

Introduction 

University education plays a fundamental role in how our society moves forward in meeting its many

challenges such as climate change, poverty and food security. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified these pressures for universities to provide new policy directions to adapt and evolve to meet the newly emerging demands of the next decade. There is an educational challenge here. The crisis in education in Sri Lanka is the disempowerment of universities, teachers and students, and the erosion of core principles by forces outside these institutions. 

Universities produced a continuous stream of skilled people but failed to create innovation for a sustainable and a knowledge-based economy. The recent protests in Sri Lanka largely by university students reflect their distrust and frustration of the system that has gone wrong. Academics themselves are culpable in this tragedy. They were cocooned in a world of their own brilliance and failed to think outside the box to deal with the socio-economic and environmental sustainability challenges in a new normal world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises. Sri Lankan society is in tatters and is teetering on the brink of a major collapse due to poor governance, corruption and nepotism and these have led to the deterioration of the quality of universities. 

Universities must face the new normal world 

The next five years are crucial for Sri Lankan universities to play their role correctly to usher in healthier, greener, fairer, and more inclusive societies. Can our universities assume this full responsibility? The 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a framework with particular relevance for Higher Education. It supports a whole-institution approach (WIA) and a whole-sector approach (WSA) to reach a more sustainable future and accelerate the fundamental transformative processes. All actors in education and in society at large need to be involved, from leadership to students. Leaving No One Behind is not only set in SDG 4, but crucial for the achievement of all SDGs. 

Universities are centres of rational explanation where students should learn to seek the true meaning of things. David Orr (1994) says, “The crisis we face is first and foremost is one of the mind, perception, and values.” Reconstructing the university mission for the 21st century, require multi-tasking and digital world learning skills for a knowledge-based economy. Our universities require rethinking of our values, ethics and morality and a problem-posing and solving curriculum. Students must critically examine the issues that impinge on them, integrate and interpret information in order to draw new inferences and ask new questions. A holistic approach to teaching and learning, research and community engagement is required to trigger true transformation at local, national, regional, and global level.

Universities must embrace a highly futuristic vision for the new normal world and be ready to face unpredictable catastrophes which may originate due to biological, political or other phenomena. The COVID-19 pandemic which killed millions of people is different from the world we previously knew, is a case in point. In the new normal world, an extra critical futuristic vision is needed which benefits society now and 25 years into the future. The ideas and technologies, that will help us forge this good future, are yet to be discovered. But proper universities in their creative, free-thinking mode, and their students who acquire these habits, are vital resources to discover this future. 

In the new normal world, our future is not knowable and vulnerable and requires critical ecology of learning to reduce threats – such as mass poverty and starvation, climate change and rising levels of pollution. COVID-19 shows that we no longer control our own future. Anthropogenic activities created many climate crises which are a perfect storm of threats to human existence. We need to emphasise a viable ecological/economic identity to end our struggle with the natural world that supported our economies for generations. We have an ecological crisis and a crisis of our curricula. Currently motivation, knowledge and skills are inadequate to face the ecological crisis.

 Teaching in universities 

Universities are institutions of vocational education and the formation of reflective practitioners, social critics and good citizens. Higher education institutions in Sri Lanka faced major economic and technological phenomena in the 21st century such as globalisation, the telecommunications revolution of the 1980 and 90s, the Asian crisis in 1997, the global financial crisis of 2008, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka’s higher education is facing a fundamental challenge to make structural changes, to achieve the best quality teaching and learning. COVID-19 exacerbated these problems by a sudden shift to online teaching and learning affecting the most marginalised groups who had no access to computers or had no electricity or Wi-Fi. There is an absence of integrated approaches to the education problems of the rural poor. Many students face dire situations without adequate resources to return to their universities. There is an equity issue here. 

During the last four decades there was a massive increase in student numbers which took us away to an agenda different from the values of university academic competence. How to increase employment opportunities by developing diversity of graduate skills in Sri Lankan universities became preeminent. We need to provide relevant graduate skills to address emerging challenges by a diversity of programs which is useful to for universities gain some control of the higher education agenda. 

We increasingly focus on developing highly specific technical skills deployed in predictable settings. Teaching curricula and research focus must shift to face unexpected emergencies because nothing unfolds entirely as expected (e.g. COVID-19). Universities often concentrate on science, technology and medicine, but pushed arts, humanities and social sciences to oblivion. Our society is not separable. Society is a complex interacting whole, which needs to be understood as a whole. No one discipline suffices to seize the whole – whether the whole individual or the whole social construct. 

Universities in their diversity of preoccupations provide rational explanation and meaning that societies need. The cultural and social role of the university is integral to create the necessary mindset to respond to the challenges within a multi-dimensional framework to prepare graduates to become the next generation of leaders and innovators. We train students to go out into the world with both general and specific skills necessary to the wellbeing of society. This is the social issue. 

Universities as think tanks must use their collective wisdom to equip students with ‘21st century skills’ and nurture talent in new technologies through research for the “fourth industrial revolution”. Sri Lankan universities failed to produce sufficient productivity gains for a better future in a disruptive world. Surely, we must embrace digital innovation as it will dominate the educational experience in the future. The methods of teaching and learning must change for the 21st century learners through adaptation of technology, training of teachers on technology enabled teaching-learning, institutional support, investment of resources, etc. to alter the prevailing teaching practices. The online teaching through the pandemic have served to highlight new opportunities for hybrid delivery models and redesign education programs. This is the technology issue. 

Future strategies should focus on industry engagement in the development of teaching content, credentials, short courses and degrees – to ensure that its educational programs respond to shifting industry and workplace needs. This is the diversity issue. 

University research

Why multidisciplinary research

Sri Lanka must bridge the gap between research and policy with a distinct focuses on critical issues in the country such as food security, renewable energy, climate change and COVID-19, etc. We need to understand communities, industries, technology, agriculture and their interconnections which is part of the solution to the myriad problems in the country. Our universities research, have little knowledge of how research initiatives affect sustainability. Universities must employ their multidisciplinary know-how to energy generation, local or regional food production using sustainable farming methods; ecologically sound buildings based on “green” design principles and community education to promote ecological literacy. Agriculture and the fisheries sector must be integrated within the wider ecosystem to promote sustainable development, equity, and resilience of interlinked social and ecological systems. 

Social structures and processes in agrarian and rural change, political economy of climate change and economic and resource sustainability and the distributional implications of the COVID-19 are all integral in a modern university. We made significant empirical contributions to food security through agricultural research in universities but did not integrate climate services to food security systems or water management all of which are interrelated. Focus on promoting water efficiency and conservation, using the soft path of water management which is strongly intertwined with socio-cultural aspects and water as an economic good and a human right. The way climate services are handled can either enhance or constrain their contribution to food security. The future of education depends on how well we bridge some of these glaring anomalies – in income, public health, education and digital access. The global research ecosystems have changed and we do not know where the next breakthroughs may be directed. 

The importance of multidimensional research involving ecology and the environment was brought into sharp focus recently in the context of the serious dollar crisis that Sri Lanka is facing. Sri Lanka seeks debt restructuring but we cannot succeed here with very poor environmental credentials specially climate change. Nordea Bank, one of our lenders, wants to tie any agreement for restructuring to climate goals. The Helsinki-based manager seeks increasing forest cover, reducing greenhouse gases, achieving 70% renewable energy in electricity generation by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Can Sri Lanka ever prove to the world her environmental credentials with such egregious damage to our forests, water ways and wetlands and cultivable land. In November, Belize and its creditors, with the help of US charity, the Nature Conservancy, agreed a $ 553 million (S$ 765 million) restructuring only because the government of Belize agreed to spend millions on marine conservation. Things are easier said than done.

Basic research 

Sri Lankan universities try to innovate within many constraints, but universities need freedom and flexibility to explore new territory. Sri Lanka had invested on limited research priorities, with a greater focus on infrastructure, staff appointments and teaching. Our emphasis had been mostly on applied research. Basic research on climate change, pandemics using multi-dimensional approaches is essential to create knowledge for an unpredictable future. The creation of new knowledge through basic research, is the ultimate source of innovation in society in abstract areas that may not appear immediately relevant to others, but could prove to be useful for the future. This is very important in the context of COVID-19. Why did we not predict COVID-19 which came to us as a night thief because we did not focus deep and wide enough basic research on viruses. Basic research is looking for the unknown. If we can cast the net wider we can always catch the occasional fish which can become very valuable one day unexpectedly.

Funding research 

Transitioning to a new future with less revenue is a serious challenge. How should the higher education research ecosystem be best resourced, regulated to support research breakthroughs required in a vulnerable, and complex ambiguous environment. Universities need both income and a stable political, economic and climatic environment. Collaboration between long-established research institutions, innovation accelerators and science-technology-policy interface networks are needed to facilitate a science-driven and human-centric transformation of the country.

Our university leaders must seek new revenue streams and develop new business models, through partnerships and innovation. Monash has been named number one in the world in pharmacy and pharmacology because it recognised the quality of research and education of our researchers. Biobanking Victoria, high energy cyclotron for radio pharmaceuticals. The new World Mosquito Program lab, succeeded with support from governments, industry partners and philanthropists. Sri Lanka currently has a serious dengue problem. Researchers at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) modified a nanomaterial to make solar cells as efficient as silicon-based cells, to improve one of the most effective renewable and sustainable energy technologies (Professor Shapter). Through heavy spending, solar would rise from powering 3% of the nation’s electricity in 2020 to 40% by 2035.

The Australia Institute in a new report on Higher Education at the Crossroads: post-COVID Future of Australian Universities, recommends that adequate public funding for universities, free undergraduate education and fully funded research could be realised if an incoming Federal Government were to increase annual higher education spending in line with the OECD average to 1% of GDP. Sri Lanka has been pressing for 6% of GDP for education but at present this remains a distant dream. 

I have sacrificed rigor for stylistic felicity in separately discussing teaching and research although I believe that in the emerging new normal world, this dichotomy is artificial. Teaching and research belong together because the best research and the best teaching depend upon a culture that value curiosity, scepticism, serendipity, creativity and even genius which are crucial to the university educational process.

Need for real leaders: Vice Chancellors and Chancellors

Complete autonomy for universities is essential to counter political indoctrination and inequity for participatory citizens in a democracy. Autonomy to appoint competent staff and freedom to think, create an automatic decentralised decision system with great scope to drive new, innovative ideas and capacity, to deliver on strategic priorities and build excellence and innovation. The Vice-Chancellor in Sri Lanka should provide strong and visible leadership during a period of unprecedented change in higher education in Sri Lanka. The leaders must strengthen higher education in a research-intensive environment and maintain the university system to global standards. They must be genuinely committed to change Sri Lanka through application of ideas and knowledge for the benefit of the people of our country by bringing civic commitment to the forefront. But political appointments of university leaders currently in Sri Lanka cannot give any hope to maintain morale and optimism and build confidence.

Recent appointment of Muruthettowe Ananda thero, as the Chancellor of Colombo University is a pure political appointment. As if we are all gullible, another priest led us to believe that a Cobra surfaced from the nether world bearing a message that a redeemer would soon arrive. The priest who proposed this preposterous claim was rewarded with the chancellorship of a national university. The University of Colombo recently opposed the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor (VC) because it is politically-motivated and violated protocol and selection procedure. The selection committee awarded Senior Professor Dr. Chandrika Wijeyaratne 89.6 marks. Prof. Karunaratne earned 66 marks and Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa got 64 marks. However, Prof. Karunaratne was made VC over Prof. Wijeyaratne because of his relationship with politicians. Clearly the political process dominated here which is detrimental to the higher education system. 

Another hilarious incident occurred in Wayamba University where the VC position is vacant, a professor H.M.A. Herath (there are many Heraths here but they are not known to me and not related). Several parliamentarians and state minsters of the SLPP have sent letters to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requesting that the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Wayamba University be given to ‘a friend’ of them; Prof. H.M.A. Herath and he is well-known. I do not know how he can be well known. I checked his CV and I saw he has published two articles in a dubious Kelaniya University Journal.

D.B. Herath, Minister of State for Livestock sent a letter included the professor’s name and the post of Vice-Chancellor in the same general letter template as the traditional letters that MPs give to their voters to get minor jobs in the SLTB, Railway Department. Some of these members do not have even GCE ordinary level (there are many Heraths here but I am not related to any of them). The tragedy here is that the President is on life support, D.B. Herath and Ratnaskera, another signatory are running helter skelter because their houses have been burnt down by angry voters (I am fiercely opposed to any destruction of public or private property however). 

We saw a few years ago, many hilarious dramas unfolded in appointing the chairman of the UGC. I have seen names of retired VCs in the national list of political parties during the election. Obviously there is a close political connection here. Do you think that we can become world class universities with this kind of invidious preferment in appointments? 

The Australian university experience 

I provide some information below about Australian university experiences which are most appropriate in reforming our universities. 

Appointments 

In Australia, VCs are appointed after an extensive search internationally. I quote an advertisement by the University of Adelaide for the position of Vice Chancellor. “Our next Vice-Chancellor and President must be a true leader for our University over the coming years. We want a leader who will inspire our students to achieve their full potential, our staff to teach and undertake research at the highest level, and our alumni to feel increasingly proud of their alma mater. “Our next leader must be forward-thinking, collegiate and values driven – embracing equality and diversity, committed to linking the University with the local community, with government and the wider world, and advancing the interests of industry and humanity.” We seek a Vice-Chancellor and President who will represent the very best of what universities can be, and who will help our University to become its very best.” In Sri Lanka we do not advertise these positions and they simply make political appointments. 

Qualifications of VCs

Professor Mark E. Smith is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton (British university) who has published more than 380 papers about advanced magnetic resonance techniques, helping to understand a range of problems in the field of materials physics. Professor Duncan Maskell, is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne since 2018. Prior to this, Professor Maskell was Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge is a Cambridge graduate and research specialist in infectious diseases, with careers in University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and Wellcome Biotech. At Cambridge, Professor Maskell was the Head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Head of the School of the Biological Sciences. He has published more than 250 research papers. 

Danish-born Professor Høj, VC at the University of Adelaide is a Fellow of Academies in Australia, the USA and Denmark, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and University of Copenhagen. He was Vice-Chancellor at the University of Queensland (2012-2020), Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia (2007-2012), CEO of the Australian Research Council (ARC) (2004-2007).

Professor Amit Chakma is the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia .He has the following qualifications; (DipIng IAP (1982), MASc PhD UBC (1987), DEng (Hon) Waterloo (2011), DSc (Hon) Dhaka (2017), PEng, ICD.D. He served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario from 2009 to 2019. Prior to that he served as Provost and Vice-President Academic at the University of Waterloo from 2001 to 2009.He has 137 journal articles and 13 book chapters. 

Current political protests in Sri Lanka: Lessons for revamping university education 

The unprecedented protests staged by a wide spectrum of the Sri Lankan community reflects the deep seated dissatisfaction with the Government. The salutary features of these protests are, that they are non-violent, full of meaningful demands and displayed a great degree of camaraderie. The protesters were peaceful for over a month despite provocations by politicians and even some police officers. The manner in which the protesters conducted the protests had been commended by Ambassadors of many countries. 

Reminding the German unification back in 1989 the German Ambassador Holger Seubert had recently stated that he was “impressed with how peaceful the proud people of Sri Lanka are exercising their right to freedom of expression” and wished “all parties involved the strength to remain peaceful. The Resident Coordinator for the United Nations in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy posted a message on her Twitter account highlighting the peaceful nature of these protests.

The protesters represent a very decent, law abiding and responsible society that we all aspire to have in Sri Lanka. It indicates that under correct circumstances, such a society will emerge but sadly the environment required never existed in Sri Lanka or in Sri Lankan universities. These young protesters in GotaGoGama believe that science and technology will lead us to sanity. In a politically corrupt, depraved and repugnant social environment, such values will remain buried in society and cleaning up such systems will lead to the automatic emergence of these values. 

Many university students and staff participated peacefully in these protests. University students and staff represent a microcosm of Sri Lanka society whose potential should be maximised for university development and management. But how can we do it? 

We can learn a lot from these protests to promote a forward looking university system in Sri Lanka. I am giving some random thoughts as follows; 

a. The dramatic socio-political protests demanding constitutional democracy and major reform in education are made by a new generation of youth who are deeply disappointed with the status quo. These heroic student activities are important to tease out the useful lessons in questioning the vulnerabilities of education philosophy, policy, and the very meaning of higher education institutions for the 21st century for Sri Lanka.

b. Stop the ad hoc and unpredictable manner by which universities in Sri Lanka are opened, closed and funding restrictions imposed. Many students have failed to complete their study programs with disrupted online studies. 

c. We must banish the prevailing traditional stereotype that university students are riotous and an unruly mob bent on exciting violence against the government. The present protests are against a corrupt government but are they violent? Certainly not. 

d. Create conditions that will elicit the most socially desirable behaviours referred to earlier. Politicians must leave them alone and the latent good behaviours will automatically emerge and thrive. The president must not appoint VCs and Chancellors and this nexus must be broken. The UGC is highly political and an alternative institution that is trustworthy with credible integrity must be found. A fiercely independent council with internationally acclaimed integrity and experience e in academia might be a useful addition to oversee appointments to high office.

e. We must get students and staff involved in an advisory role in many activities including appointments. Here is a good example. At the University of Adelaide, all staff and students were invited to rank the selection criteria for the new Vice-Chancellor and to provide written feedback, with 720 staff and students completing the survey and 247 comments received. Additional stakeholder consultation are made with senior leaders, staff and students across the University, such as Academic Board, the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive team, Heads of School, and student leadership. This is how the newly emerging socially responsible younger generation of student in universities in Sri Lanka can be involved, in the choice of their Vice Chancellors. Can Sri Lanka ever emulate this? Not a single politician is involved in these flawless processes that have raised Australian universities to world standards.

f. We know the saying that “knowledge is power and power is not knowledge” which is most appropriate to describe the current situation in Sri Lanka. University academics must be more proactive and prevail upon the political system to use scientific knowledge in making critical policy decisions. The big bang approach to organic farming initiated by the government in 2021 is a good example. The agricultural scientific community in Sri Lanka exerted considerable collective effort to express their disapproval of the organic farming project. The president grudgingly accepted that his policy to ban chemical fertiliser was wrong long after the damage was done. The many university academics and other professionals who came forward succeeded in pushing back wrong policies; knowledge succeeded over power. We need more of this.

Concluding remarks

Sri Lanka is on the threshold of a major revolution. It is time to embrace a new way of living and a new way of thinking individually and collectively to foster a new generation of socially and ecologically responsible citizens, energy efficient, produces little or no waste, supports regional economies, engenders an abiding respect for life, and fosters bonds among all members of the community of life. Research on renewable sources of energy, increase the health of our soils, or improve the cleanliness of our environment contributes directly to sustainability. 

Rarely have universities viewed students as resources for developing their curricula to include important global perspectives. Many of our university students are disparagingly labelled as unruly which breaks the capacity of students to think critically instead of creating a pipeline of opportunity. But independent management policies can usher in an era of prosperity within a fair and equitable world. Universities can be restored to their romantic pre-eminence in the newly emerging Sri Lanka if and when these changes occur.