Fixing universities

Elections come and go but some issues remain the same. This was the sentiment expressed by student unions who staged a massive protest in Colombo on Tuesday criticising political parties for ignoring their problems and doing little to close “degree kades.”

Regularisation of private universities and integrating their public counterparts into a more competent model that will create employable graduates that will meet the needs of a knowledge economy has long been a thorn in the sides of many Governments. Even the monumentally powerful former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the heart of his tenure had trouble managing the contentious and often colliding roles of the higher education sector. Ultimately he had little answer to the sporadic strikes and in the end university teachers publically campaigned to oust him in January.    

During his time a large number of foreign universities sought permission to establish their branches in Sri Lanka, including India’s Manipal University and Singapore’s Raffles University. Apart from these, Sri Lanka Telecom also sought approval to establish a university but these were ill-regulated and did not have stakeholder support. Discussions were mired in stalemates that ended with no compromise and rejuvenating the university sector became a tin can kicked farther down the road.

The current Government clearly has bigger fish to fry and outside of pledging more public investment towards education has stayed clear of engaging in potentially explosive issues, including private degree awarding institutions and public university reform.

The number of students who leave Sri Lanka for studies each year is indicative of the massive need for private universities in Sri Lanka. In 2006 as many as 11,042 students opted for foreign education, a number that increased to 16,150 in 2010. But what is interesting is that in 2010 there was a marginal decline, perhaps due to more private degree options opening up within Sri Lanka.

Providing higher education is big business and investors stand to make tens of millions. However, what is disturbing is that while the Government is enthusiastic about accepting FDI from foreign universities, they are paying scant attention to regulating these same institutions and making sure that they maintain international standards. 

There is also little attention to making these new universities inclusive so that it does not become a situation where poor children are relegated to badly-funded public universities while richer kids end up at private institutions purely because their parents have more money.

A few years ago the Higher Education Minister rolled out an ambitious plan to upgrade local universities and assist them to specialise in one field, thereby being able to climb international rankings and attract foreign students. 

Yet this ideal is yet to get off the ground in any meaningful sense, putting the vision of universal higher education at risk. How much opportunity does this current step by the Government give to talented children from poor backgrounds? Conversely how does it ensure that parents’ hard-earned money is not frittered away on inflated degree prices?

The transparency of this investment needs to be questioned because wholesale closing of degree institutions cannot be done. Without an independent regulatory system and transparent investment mechanism, higher education in Sri Lanka will be sold to the highest bidder. Parents, fatigued by political wrangling and non-existent policies, will be happy to purchase their children the chance of a better life. Hopefully the next Government can find a way to negotiate a better return for everyone.