Accountability at all levels

Wednesday, 4 November 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Accountability is at the core of every democratic state and the recent student clash is the perfect opportunity for the present Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government to prove its commitment to good governance by not only probing the clash but also ensuring deeper issues are also resolved.

Thirty-nine students were arrested from the Higher National Diploma in Engineering (HNDE) program after a bloody battle with the police where even girls were roundly bashed up by law enforcement officers. Gruesome pictures of students being carried away with blood pouring from wounds found their way to the front pages of national newspapers the next day along with quick quotes from the Police insisting they used “minimum force”.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Monday issued a scathing criticism of the Police Department, condemning violence used against student protestors and recalling that the same brutality had been used against Opposition political rallies and peaceful protestors not so long ago.

Minister Samaraweera said that freedom of expression and protest was a democratic right in civilised societies. The Minister said that newspapers and social media pictures had shown Police resorting to violence to control and disperse the protestors, adding that the conduct by law enforcement officials was not in keeping with what he called the “Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe era”.

While Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should be commended for calling for a report on the violence, it is still responsibility of the IGP to identify the Police officers involved in the incident, whose photographs are displayed in the newspapers, and to take immediate disciplinary action against them pending the submission of this report. The only way the Government can restore its credibility and faith in law and order is through accountability.

Even though courts gave bail to all arrested students the very next day, there are still too many questions over the real grievances of the students.

HNDE followers are asking for degree status to be given to their program and while it may not be possible to meet student expectations completely, there must be an effort to at least engage with these students with the genuine intention of trying to find solutions. Given the restrictions of the public higher education system and the high cost of private universities, many youth would find external programs more accessible but are faced with the problem that they are not recognised in the job market at the same level as degrees. However, students do spend years on these diploma courses and without proper accreditation given, they are not making optimum use of the best years of their lives. It is a legitimate problem not just for the students but also for the country as the education system is not creating employable youth. This is applicable not just to the HNDE program but also external degrees offered by most public universities countrywide.

It is true the UGC is heavily politicised, under-resourced and beset by problems, but it still has a responsibility to engage, not just with students but the public as well, so there is a level of accountability to its actions. After all the UGC is a public institution run with public funds and is tasked with educating the future generation of this country.