‘Higher education: To privatise or not?’ A response

Thursday, 1 September 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

I read the mentioned editorial with much interest and I think you brought up some very important points with regardto the private medical colleges debate, such as the disparity between students passing their A/Ls vs. the inability of the public education system to accommodate everyone with merit to start their undergraduate studies.

Another pertinent point I feel you madeis the actual percentage (3%) of the GDP being inadequate to sufficiently develop the education system to the capacity the country requires it to be.

You ended the editorial saying “…it is high time the authorities took some bold steps to address the issue, because it’s the country’s future that is at stake.” It’s a very interesting point because as the public, we’re yet to see the President or Prime Minister stepping in to resolve the matter – which is of high importance, because our health system is ailing and inadequate, and the education system is not equipped to serve the needs of people.

Seeing as how, for decades, thousands of students have been thwarted by the lack of concrete reform to the education system and thousands of lives have been put at risk due to theshortcomings of the healthcare system – by not intervening, is the President really abiding by the principles of ‘Yahapalanaya’? Is this not an injustice to the people that must be addressed immediately?

If the public system cannot fix the problem alone, then private partnerships do seem like the only option we have and it’s worked in the case of the many private affiliated institutions in the country that facilitate tertiary education opportunities in fields such as IT, Business, Arts and even Law.

Last I checked, we were a social market economy and progress for the country was still on the agenda. Shouldn’t we be more pragmatic in our approach to solving this national issue instead of pandering to the selfish, reckless, draconian and populist agendas of the SLMC, GMOA and waste-of-our-taxpayer-money-radical-anti-progressives like the IUSF?

I hope you this fit to publish in your publication and I look forward to more thought-provoking pieces on the topic in the future.

Victor Gunadasa,

Chilaw