New Legislation to Regulate Universities – PM

 As long as there is an absence of a liberal atmosphere, it is hard to stop ragging, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.while addressing the High Level Consultative Dialogue on Preventing Ragging and Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Universities at the Hotel Galadari yesterday.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the government will introduce legislature to make universities more autonomous and financially independent within the structure of free education.

The Consultative Dialogue will have the University Grants Commission and University administrators working in the next 10 days to discuss mechanisms to address the issue of ragging and gender based violence in the 15 state universities.

“The law must apply to everyone but does it prevail in universities Academics have no way to address ragging other than not having lectures. Are we in a position to protect the students in the university” asked the Prime Minister.

He observed that while police enforced the law outside universities, tradition of universities dictated that the university administration handle issues within the university.

“At times, Vice Chancellors have abdicated all responsibility to student unions but that cannot happen anymore. Administratively, we will ensure that all responsibility goes to the university and we plan on bringing in supporting legislature at the end of this year or early next year,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said.

Speaking on the structure of the university system, the Prime Minister said: “At present we have an archaic system of university administration and along with FUTA we have decided to change that. Universities today are no better than a public cooperation or government department. But we want to make it more independent and autonomous.” He also suggested that a post for Assistant Vice Chancellor be created in the future to handle student affairs and services. “Rights and freedoms of students should be observed as long as the rule of law applies,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said. The Prime Minister also advocated for plurality of thinking within universities with all political parties, ideologies and movements being accommodated within the university sphere.

“The body politics is South Asian- alive and kicking but the student politics is North Korean. We have to resolve this issue. We are a multi-party state and within the universities that plurality must apply,” he said.

The Youth Affairs Ministry, the Prime Minister said will offer Rs. 200 million from next year to fund innovative student projects at universities to encourage plurality of thought. “We need to mobilise the whole country and that is where the government can come in, so that we campaign to stop ragging at the grassroots,” the Prime Minister said.