University admission program too rigid:
No mouse droppings in University hostel kitchens - Prof. Rajiva
Wijesinha
By Manjula Fernando
In a Q&A with the Sunday Observer, State Minister of Higher Education
Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha said he will not sack the UGC Chairperson
Prof.Kshanika Hirimburegama but will address many mistakes done by her.
He said that the University system needed reform and even the Dons
should be monitored. Praising the Moratuwa VC he said that he is a
classic example and other VCs should follow him
Q: Is Higher Education a portfolio that you have bargained for,
given that Universities which are hotbeds of student activism and unrest
it is never considered an easy subject?
A: I prefer Education because I think there are more problems
in Education and with my experience it would have been more suitable.
But Higher Education is not a problem it would be satisfying if I can
achieve results.
Frankly I think, this Cabinet was set up in a haphazard fashion. I
think its pretty bad that the Ministry of Higher Education and Technical
education (it looks like we may have it as well) does not have a Cabinet
portfolio. It is crucial for the social development of the country.
Kabir Hashim has been appointed Cabinet Minister in charge of
Technical Education in addition to his other responsibilities.
We have a bit of a problem with regard to the research institutions
but the problems Kabir Hashim, Eran Wickremaratne and I have are totally
the opposite of what everyone else will have.
Whereas every one wants to hold onto everything to themselves, all
three of us want the other person to take them over.
The technology and research ministry of the previous government had
an excellent secretary and she says Minister Champika Ranawaka was
efficient. They briefed us and since all three of us were responsible
for this, the former Ministry Secretary wanted all of us to come but the
other two I think gave it a miss, probably thinking that I should handle
it.
You could see that they had done a great job. There were a few
problems, but the Research and Technology sector is well- organised. I
don't think we have to interfere too much.
Q: What about the Technical Education sector?
A: The technical education sector is a complete mess. I found
this when I went to the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technical
Education ( SLIATE) in Labuduwa last Monday. It had traditionally been
under the Higher Education Ministry.
I try to visit an institute under my purview, outside Colombo,
regularly. On Monday I went to Ruhuna University and Labuduwa SLIATE. If
you look at my report on the visit which is on the Ministry website, the
situation is tragic. Some students whom I spoke to wanted to give up
studies there and join University Colleges.
When I went there, the Director, Registrar and the Accountant was
missing. None of them had taken leave to be out. I cannot have a
situation where the institute is left unattended. One lecturer was there
and the staff told me he was in charge.
He was the head of English and was very competent. I was proud of his
competence, because he was a student of mine. He handled it very well.
The students were very civilized. They put their problems in an easy to
understand terms, what they came out was shocking.
The previous Minister I thought was competent but he had left it to
the officials and they have built empires.
Ten different institutions were duplicating the work. A girl who had
been with SLIATE for two years said she wanted to give it up and join
university colleges, because then she could get a degree.
The students who are in tertiary education should all have access to
degree level qualification because they are there for no fault of
theirs'.
I will set things in motion soon, to try and do that in the next 100
days. Sometimes the way I work upsets so many people. I will definitely
do that if I last in this position. I am still waiting to get a clear
idea as to what subjects and responsibilities I have been entrusted and
I hope it will be done soon.
I feel when the Cabinet was appointed, there has been no concept of
competence. I don't think that is acceptable in what is meant to be a
reform Cabinet. It is worrying for the future. This confirms our party
policy. We said reduce the size of the Cabinet remove the Executive from
Parliament but do not abolish it completely.
Since there seems to be a need for a common principle we agreed and
we had no objection to it. Nevertheless we fought hard to make sure the
people were not told to vote for Maithripala Sirisena for someone else
to take power. Attanayake was talking about an executive Prime Minister,
but I think Ranil Wickremesinghe has much more understanding about the
reality.
But I think we would now say we don't want the executive presidency
abolished. Its massive powers must be reduced. The whole point is
greater accountability and much more strengthening of Parliament.
Q: How many people in the government walk with you on this
idea on executive presidency, I know the JHU has been championing the
same views?
A: The Liberal Party has a history of constitutional
theorizing for 25 years. In 1997, we said many things that people are
now proposing.
Of course, many others who have no principles may find it difficult
to acknowledge that we said it first.
For instance the standing orders, No one in the previous government
cared a damn about the standing orders, I proposed amendments. No one
cared except the then Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena who was
helpful in getting my motion on standing orders to reach the speaker.
Now they talk about amending standing orders in Parliament.
Q: What would be your priorities in the Higher Education
sector and what are your expectations ?
A: I have to restore the concept of accountability. I think I
have done that already. For instance the present Higher Education Act
has no purpose. The Act as it stands begins with a description of the
UGC, it does not say what it should aim at. It describes the functions
later. Then you have a chapter saying the powers of the Minister. It
should be the responsibility of the Minister.
A committee was set up yesterday, headed by me as the Minister. The
UGC and three Vice Chancellors are selected to be in the committee. I
did a draft over the last two weeks and sent it over for comments. The
committee has four formerly appointed members in addition to legal
experts as advisors.
At the end of February we are planning to present a draft Act. Before
that I hope the functions of the state minister will be gazetted.
Because then I would know whether to make it a higher education Act or a
University Act. The country needs a Higher Education Act. We cannot
treat our technical students as second class.
Then, we have appointed a sub committee, chaired by head of the Post
Graduate Institute of Medicine with the heads of the Postgraduate
Institute of Archeology and the Postgraduate Institute of English as
other members to lay down guidelines for greater flexibility within the
university system. The Postgraduate Institute of English was chosen
because the undergraduates have told me that English knowledge is their
biggest problem.
The admissions program is so rigid, it serves only to stop people
from doing things, we torment the students with these rigid regulations.
We also want to suggest reforms within the school system to enable
students capable of learning, now they can only buy tutorials. The
change must start there. The universities will be asked to do an audit
on lecturers who dictate notes. We cannot waste students' time in
universities.
We want to ask the universities to develop a book policy, to set up
bookshops where you have access to books by all academic publishers at
reasonable rates as well as to develop simple text books in Sinhala and
Tamil. Now we don't have that.
I was impressed by the inputs by some of the Vice Chancellors, who
responded to my call. We have excellent people, for instance the
Moratuwa university Vice Chancellor, I think we must make use of their
skills. We could twin their knowledge and skills in some other under
performing university. A system could be adopted for Moratuwa to mentor
them.
Q: Would you be able to accomplish all that within 100 days?
A. If I'm allowed to, certainly. Everything I have done, I've
done quickly. This was the problem with former President Mahinda
Rajapaksa. He would say 'Meka Honda Adahasak, passe karamu'.
I am so fond of the Secretary of my predecessor. He had a lot of good
ideas, imaginative and able, but there was no structure on which he
could work, he couldn't develop a structure.
Therefore he turned to personal predilections. I have told
politicians that I cannot recommend people for jobs in universities.
That could be interpreted as 'interference or pressure'. They have to
understand.
The reason why we were so upset about the last Government was, the
President used to interfere with the Minister, the Minister with the UGC
Chairman and the Chairman with the VCs.
It's the people who push them to do it. You have to tell the people,
Ministers have no right to give jobs. In appointing councils, I don't
suggest names. I asked the UGC Chairperson when she wanted me to name
some people, why don't you consult this person (a well respected
individual in academia), he had a vast knowledge in that particular
field.
I will stick to this policy in the future.
Q: So do you think you are on the right path to bring that
change?
A. I think I am always on the right path. It's that I don't
last long on the right path.
At Ruhuna university they told me they wanted hostels in the
university premises. I asked why? They said if they leave the premises,
they get beaten up.
That is what we have to stop. There is no need to build new hostels.
I agree with them. You cannot have a situation where undergraduates get
assaulted. That is outrageous. But equally they must learn to be
sensible.
The dons need to feel confident but I also want them to work. The
universities must have work norms - how many hours of teaching, what is
the research productivity. You cannot have a situation where some dons
teach one hour for the entire term. This is ly happening in certain
universities.
Then they ask for more money. The Arts faculties were particularly
bad. The Science faculties were better and more professional.
Q: Do you expect any resistance when the change that you
perceive is brought about?
A: No I don't expect any resistance at all. But if people who
think they should be in charge of me will say go a bit slowly, that's
when I give up and go. I will not go slowly, because that is letting
myself down.
Q: Why did you decide to do away with the leadership training
component for university entrants? It seem to be a political move, how
would you compensate ?
A: I consulted the undergraduates before the decision was
made. It was a three week program and there was a disproportionate
amount of drill, whereas the undergrads wanted better English. They did
want personality development which was included in the Leadership
Training. I think what we want is a program that will equip undergrads
to face not only university life but later life as well.
It will not be done away with. There will be an induction course. The
leadership training course was the program of the ministry of Higher
Education and the Defence Ministry.
I was told it was entirely a program handled by the Higher Eduction
Ministry and they were only using the military premises. I don't see any
harm in getting the support of the military. They have a lot of skills
we could use. But it's wrong to hide the truth.
We should also begin a joint program to make English compulsory in
schools for the GCE AL and university with the provision for intense
coaching if they fail the first time. A meeting was held in this regard
on January 27 and we are in the process of taking important decisions.
Our school English syllabuses are a mess. It is unfortunate that the
subjects, Education and Higher Education are not under a single
Minister.
Q: You are not satisfied with the current English program for
undergraduates?
A: Not at all, they have told me this. We have a situation
where they learn English for 12 years and still they can't speak in
English properly, they are not confident.
People like you and me have a lot of advantages but we must make sure
that others too have similar advantages.
We have set up a committee to advise us on a 100 day program. I have
written to the Education Minister Akila Viraj and provincial Ministries
to implement a joint plan of action on English as part of the 100 day
program.
I have suggested the three months between GCE OL and GCE AL to be
utilised to give students an intense three month English course. It is a
crime to let an entire six months go to waste. The students are spending
a lot on adhoc tuition classes which is unbearable on their parents.
Q: What are the key features of the 100-day program of your
Ministry?
A. One is the complete overhaul of university structures. I
have already instructed setting up committees. The universities have a
free hand as to their composition. The guidelines have been issued in
the letter sent to the VCs.
We are in the process of bringing in a new Act, It will be a new Act
either on Higher Education or Universities, will depend on the
responsibilities entrusted with the Ministry.
The second committee is to suggest ideas for flexibility within the
university system to give more opportunities to youngsters and to make
suggestions about improvement in education in schools to create students
better able to move into tertiary education.
The next is the transparency in financial transactions within the
university. The VCs have been asked to post their expenditures in the
university websites. A mechanism will be put in place where students can
make comments on these expenditures.
Every Government has corrupt people and there has been a lot of
corruption in the past. I hope such a system will help put a stop to
this. |