To: The President, Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
Tertiary Education is Not for Militarization
This campaign has ended.
Tertiary education in Sri Lanka has contributed immensely for upward social mobility for many deserving marginalized communities. Since independence the quality of higher education has been maintained with high standards with effective regulatory functions are now bestowed with the University Grant Commission (UGC) by act of parliament in 1978.
We note that the government of Sri Lanka is presenting a bill to the parliament to setup an higher education institution currently used for upgrading skills of the armed forces to override the regulatory functions of UGC. We call upon the government of Sri Lanka to withdraw this bill, and propose to reform the education system inline with the current job market requirements without weakening the regulatory functions of UGC
Why is this important?
Sri Lanka has been providing universal health and education for its citizens and empowered the talent and held hand of many deserving students supporting their upward social mobility. The proposed act is setup private universities to offer courses on commercial basis without proper regulatory oversight of the UGC. This initiative will bring down the standard of tertiary education to unacceptable levels, and country will not benefit from its talented citizens