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A degree of hardship In a room that can barely accommodate two people, four undergraduates live. Their furniture comprises a small table, one towel rack and two single beds. The tiny window in the room is shut permanently; the lock is broken and a wire secures it to the frame. The door is half closed to ward off peeping toms. Samanthi who shares the room with Harshani and two others has been living in this boarding house for two years now. "As I am within the stipulated radius, I was not entitled to accommodation on campus. My father is the sole breadwinner and this is what I can afford," she says. The boarding houses of male students are worse. Chinthaka from the Moratuwa University lives in a hole in the wall room he shares with five, for which he pays Rs. 500 a month plus water bills. "We cannot keep our personal things as this room is too small. We have to share almost everything that we have." The big cardboard box on his bed contains books, a small mirror, a hot water bottle, plates, an iron, a comb and clothes hangers. "I push it under the bed when I sleep," says an embarrassed Chinthaka. Cramped and congested rooms are not the only travails that these students, who come from far off places with such hope to gain that all-important degree, face. Basic facilities are also hard to come by. Chinthaka's boarding is no exception. It is a rush in the morning because everyone has to use the single bathroom. Later it is a scramble to iron clothes. "I have changed three boardings in the last four months," laments Lakshani who had once fractured her ankle when she slipped off the rickety staircase leading to her room. Charith from the University of Peradeniya has a more philosophical view on the issue of poor housing for undergrads. "This is not something new. It happened even during our parents' time. It is part of our education. When you have to undergo hardship it makes you more determined and focused," he says, though his friend, Lakmal, questions, "Suffer, but how much?" Many boarding owners feel the students are too much trouble as they study into the wee hours of the morning, keeping the lights on. "They prefer to save on the current bills," explains Kalpika from the University of Kelaniya. She has had to change her boarding more than eight times. Even in her present boarding the restrictions are hardly conducive for an undergraduate - no lights can be switched on till 7 in the night and lights out by midnight. "I stay till late on campus to study and come back to the boarding only to sleep. But this is dangerous because I have to come back alone," she says, adding that a motorcycle gang snatched her gold chain once. Another fact these students, mostly from rural areas, have to contend with is the ‘culture shock’ or urban life. "It is hard. People here treat us differently. They think we can bear any suffering simply because we come from poor families," said an arts student of the University of Colombo. Having rented out two rooms in her home to undergraduates in the last four years, Mrs. Nanda Kumarasiri of Kelaniya, has a different story. "Sometimes students occupy the room for about three or four months and suddenly decide to shift. My sole income is what I earn from them. So I have to pay the water and current bills for them." The problem is that all of them want to find places close to the campus, says a Moratuwa University lecturer. This creates a big demand and even places that are not suitable for living are marketed as boarding houses. "The pressure they live under could be one reason for the frequent unrest in universities," he suggests. Away from their loved ones and familiar environment, are university students bearing an unfair burden too soon in their lives? All names have been changed to protect identity |
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