“Dedicate your
knowledge and wealth of mind to others. In return you will be rewarded”. These were the words of Jaffna University’s Vice Chancellor Professor
S. Shanmugalingam at the annual convocation held recently. He described the Convocation as the day of achievement of knowledge and a new beginning for the graduates.
The inspiring words of the Vice Chancellor prompted Gaveshaka to look back on the progress of Sri Lanka’s university in the North.
The sixth university in Sri Lanka, the University of Jaffna completes 31 years this month.
Starting as the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka on August 1, 1974 it became an independent and autonomous university as ‘University of Jaffna’ on January 1, 1979.
Originally the
campus was opened at
the Parameshwara College premises at Thirunelvely about four kilometres from the Jaffna town. Parameshwara College
was founded by the
veteran philanthropist Sir. Ponnambalam Ramanathan in August 1921.
Dr. K. Kailasapathy, Head of the Department of Tamil and Hindu studies of the Vidyalankara Campus of the University of
Sri Lanka was appointed as the first President of the Jaffna Campus which was to have three faculties – Science, Law and Humanities – and a Physical Education
department.
The undergraduate
section of Jaffna College was taken over by the Ministry of Education on August 13, 1974 and
handed over to the University to start the Science Faculty of the Jaffna Campus.
On October 6, 1974,
the Jaffna Campus
was ceremonially
inaugurated by the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike in the presence of a large audience at Parameshwara premises at 2.25 p.m.,
by unveiling the
commemoration plaque on the invitation of the
Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Al-Haj Badi-Ud-Din Mahmud, the Minister of Education.
The Jaffna Campus was quick to realise the value of promoting the teaching of Tamil classical music and Bharatha Natyam and on December 1, 1975 took
over the Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts (RAFA) which had been
established at the Ramanathan College
premises at Maruthanarmadam, by late S. Nadesan in memory of his father-in-law Sir. Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Leading scholars and artistes from Tamil Nadu were invited to serve as directors and
lecturers in this institution.
The Faculty of Medicine was established on August 7, 1978 in the buildings of the Ayurvedic Hospital at Kaithady. It moved to a new building at Thirunelvely in 1981. The Jaffna General Hospital was elevated to a Teaching Hospital in 1978.
Another significant move was the transfer of the Siddha section of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, affiliated to the University of Colombo to the University of Jaffna on July 2, 1984 following the ethnic disturbances in 1983.
It was first placed as a department under the Faculty of Arts until from October 1, 1993 when it started functioning as a separate unit first under the direct administration of the Vice-Chancellor until a management committee took over in September 2003.
A Computer Unit was established in 1985, as a Service Unit under the overall supervision of the Dean of the Faculty of Science.
For about a decade after 1987, the political and military situation that prevailed in Jaffna was not conducive for academic development work and the university had to be
content with sustaining its ongoing programmes.
Further expansion was seen after 1990, when the Faculty of Agriculture was established on December 3, at Kilinochchi, a fast
developing city in the
mainland about 60 km south of Jaffna.
The Faculty commenced its activities in some of the buildings obtained from the Regional Agriculture Research and Development Centre (RARDC), Kilinochchi and the In-Service Training Centre, Kilinochchi.
The establishment of the External Examination
Unit (1990) to conduct external examinations, the inauguration of a Workers Education Program (1991) and an Extra Mural Studies Unit (1992) to conduct short term courses for the benefit of those who have no
opportunity for university education were further developments.
With the dawn of peace further expansion work is underway.
Over three decades, the University has grown
enormously and is today the home of eight faculties with 57 academic departments. There are several service, academic and support units and centers and a Campus at Vavuniya, about 130 km from Jaffna. In addition a few more faculties,
departments and centres are to be developed.
About 7,000 under
graduates are studying in the University. Of this number, about 6,200 are internal students in the main campus, about 500
postgraduate students and about 350 in the Vavuniya campus. Although some students are housed in a few halls of residence, majority of the students find their own
non-university
accommodation.
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