J’pura students on protest against alleged hostel shutdown
View(s):Photos of Sri Jayawardenapura University students holding posters claiming the hostels were shutdown, circulated social media this week.
“Grants cut off, hostels closed, are we, the students of J’pura, supposed to stay on the roads?” one such poster read. “Provide hostel facilities for all needy students,” another such poster read. Photos of these posters can be seen on Facebook.
But University of Sri Jayawardenpura Vice Chancellor Sudantha Liyanage, said hostels were not being shut down.
The Vice Chancellor said two new hostels, which can accommodate more than 1000 students, had been built in Pitipana for the Technology faculty students.
Forty three per cent of the University’s students already have accommodation, and the increased facilities will allow more students to be accommodated, thus increasing this percentage, the Vice Chancellor pointed out.
In reference to claims made by students on social media, Prof. Liyanage said the outcry came after the university decided to discontinue their lease of eight rented houses that had been used as hostels.
Three of these houses would no longer function as hostels due to the owner’s unwillingness to rent it out for a further period. The discontinuation of the other five houses was due to their redundancy.
The Vice Chancellor also said only eight out of the total 24 homes that had been rented by the university would no longer function as hostels.
“We discontinued the leases on houses that could not accommodate more than 50 students,” Prof. Liyanage said.
Prof. Liyanage also said students who would be moved into on-campus hostels would have access to internet connections, canteen facilities and utilities all for the price of Rs.70 a month.
“We spend between Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000 for a student each month for these facilities, as well as the accommodation costs,” he added.
He also said security, especially for female students who faced a lot of street harassment, would be better at the on-campus hostels.
All first years and fourth year students were eligible for accommodation at the university. Second and third year students were expected to meet the criteria set in place to be eligible. The criteria included a student’s residence being beyond a 20km radius from the university.
Prof. Liyanage also said plans for another hostel that would house approximately 500 students was being discussed, and room rearrangements had also been made to make better use of the university’s resources.
Commenting on the adamant student protests the Vice Chancellor said it was likely some homeowners had influenced the students to protest, so they would avoid losing tenants during a difficult situation.
However, the university’s student union accused the university administration of ulterior financial motives.
The University of Sri Jayawardenapura ‹s Student Union President Nuwan Dissanayake said Rs. 150 million is allocated every year for hostel rent charges. The students were initially told that certain hostels were being shut down because of budget cuts, he said.
“Where were these new hostels all this while, when students were spending so much of their money?” Nuwan questioned.
Mr Dissanayake said only 25% of the second year students were accommodated in the university hostels, and he also said some of the second year students’ requests for hostel facilities were rejected for reasons that were completely unfair.
“I have a friend who wasn’t given hostel facilities because his parents were Government servants. This makes no sense as the income these parents earn often gets separated among three children’s expenses,” he said.
He also said the “20km radius rule for students’ residences” was not often adhered to. Mr. Dissanayake also said the administration had a system where one student could register for hostel facilities and invite another friend to live with them.
“Because of this loophole, even the hostels that are registered as hostels that can accommodate less than 50 students, actually accommodate about 100 students because of unregistered students,” Mr. Dissanayake said.
He is skeptic about the new hostels and the removal of furniture from the old hostels due to the pandemic situation. Mr. Dissanayake said the student union would “tussle with the administration” for as long as it was required, until a practical system was introduced.