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IN: Student input into decision-making; OUT: Leadership prog.- Prof Wijesinha
View(s):A system where councils and other decision-makers are accountable to students of the decisions they take, will be established immediately, said new State Minister Prof Rajiva Wijesinha. The Minister intends to meet current students, once every two weeks. He has also decided to scrap the controversial ‘Leadership’ programme and recommence the English programme, a pet project he introduced in the 1990s.
Under the new system, all decisions taken by the councils – including annual financial accounts – will be published on the university website – with the relevant rationale. He was highly critical of the current state of affairs in the Higher Education system in the country, stating that the ownership of Higher Education in this country lies with the students, not any official. Students should be offered sufficient explanations on decisions taken, adding that, there should be a healthy dialogue between students and administration, where students’ ideas should be taken into account in the decision-making process.
“This does not mean that students should make decisions, they are there only for four years, but they have valid arguments which should be given due consideration,” he explained at a media briefing held this week.
The Minister himself will meet students and representatives from different Faculties every two weeks, if the Vice Chancellors (VC) grant permission, he said.
“I want to meet students, at least the high achievers, and sportsmen and sportswomen, from different universities. I will meet them one Faculty at a time. This way I will be able to gather their ideas,” he said.
He also explained that he has instructed University Councils (UC) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to review all ‘questionable’ decisions, and submit a report on the reviews with final decisions and clear reasoning. However, he did not explain what ‘questionable decisions’ are, and said that, ‘‘as a Minister, I am not going to interfere with the decision-making process of the UCs or the UGC.’’ He explained that the decision to review or not, the large scale student suspensions which occurred under the previous regime, lies with the relevant UC.
The Leadership programme, compulsory for new university entrants, which was conducted despite heavy opposition from student groups and teacher unions, will be terminated. Instead, a student Skills Development programme and a English Language programme will be launched for the next batch of university entrants.
Praising the Higher Education policy introduced by the previous minister five years ago, Prof. Wijesinha said the ministry would be looking at establishing the basic values for such a policy to be effective.
“We agree that private universities should be there. But good students without financial capability should also be given an opportunity in such institutions. That is why we propose that 10% of the intake should be on scholarships for deserving students without financial capital,” he said.
-Chathuri Dissanayake