Ragging victims may get a second chance at university
View(s):The Higher Education Ministry plans to provide an opportunity for students who quit universities in the past five years, due to ragging, to resume their education.
The students will be able to attend the university they attended previously, or another campus.
Higher Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena told the Education Times they estimate around 12,000 students may have left the universities due to ragging. He said provisions will be made to accommodate them, if they wish to return.
The Minister said a Police Commission report claimed some 2,000 students had either left or had not registered at the campuses, last year due to ragging.
In one instance about 48 students at the Sabaragamuwa University had left for this reason. Before that, a student committed suicide at this university.
The plan to accommodate these students will require an amendment to the existing University Grants Commission Act.
Minister Gunawardena said that a commission headed by a Former Supreme Court Judge will be appointed to look into the cases where university students had left.
“They will look these cases to see if they had left due to ragging. They will also consider if compensation is needed,” he said.
Minister Gunawardena said the Commission will sit for about five months. He also said they would be strict with new admissions to prevent ragging.
- Damith Wickremasekara