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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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Students taken for a ride by Jayantha Sri Nissanka Parents and students have been taken for a ride by the substandard foreign university accredited local companies charging exorbitant sums of money without giving quality education. Studies have shown that about 50 companies have engaged in this lucrative business. But the majority of these companies have sought neither the University Grants Commission (UGC) nor Board of Investment (BOI) approval. The UGC warn parents and students to examine the facilities and qualifications of lecturer panels of these institutions before registering themselves for foreign degree courses conducted in Sri Lanka. The UGC has recently given degree awarding status to the following institutions: Sri Lanka Institute of Social Development, Surveying and Mapping Institute Diyathalawa, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Institute of Nautical Engineers, Aquinas College of Higher Education, Institute of Technological Studies. The UGC has found 34 institutions are conducting foreign degree programmes in the country and investigations are being carried out to identify many more. Some of these institutions are having physical infrastructure as well as high quality teaching staff but the majority of such institutions do not have even the basic facilities, investigations have revealed. As a result of the poor quality teaching which cannot meet the standard of the accredited foreign University, many students fail exams and later those students abandon the courses even though they have paid lakhs of money. However, the present Higher Education Act does not permit the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Unit of the UGC to oversee the operations of these accredited foreign university companies, Quality Assurance Specialist of the UGC Prof. Colin Peiris told the Sunday Observer. All the institutions which are awarding foreign degree certificates will be under scrutiny once the Higher Education Act is amended in December giving more teeth to UGC, Prof. Peiris noted. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga recently directed the BOI to refrain from giving any more approval hereafter for new companies unless they obtain UGC approval. This decision has been taken in order to avoid the mushrooming of accredited foreign university local representatives who are making high profits without providing basic facilities and quality education to students. UGC Chairman Prof. B.R.R.N. Mendis said "We are not against institutions which are trying to provide quality education for Sri Lankan students. But educational institutions should meet all the required standards. Hereafter we will not let any institution to produce half baked graduates after charging exorbitant sums of money. We will also not allow any institution to leave unsuccessful undergraduates in the dark once the amendments to the Higher Education Act is in place". Studies have revealed that only a few students go abroad seeking higher education but the majority follow courses here. According to the available statistics only 4,939 students have gone abroad for higher education in 2003. Students who follows foreign curriculum in Sri Lanka pay Rs.100,000 to Rs.200,000 for a one year diploma and Rs. 150,000 to Rs. 450,000 for undergraduate courses. However, Sri Lankans have spent about Rs. 3,000 million in 2003 for international higher education remitting monies abroad as well as meeting expenses locally paying these institutions. The BOI had earlier given the following seven companies approval to award degrees: New Zealand College of Higher Education, Korea Global University (Pvt) Ltd, Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College, Vidyodaya Ayurvedic Medical College (Pvt) Ltd, Australian College of Business Technology (Pvt) Ltd, International College of Business and Technology Ltd and American Education Centre Ltd. |
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