Sri Lanka has always prided itself about the quality and coverage of education to its people. From the time of the introduction of free education successive governments have always had education as a cornerstone of its development efforts of its people. For the people of SriLanka, particularly the economically disadvantaged sections of it, education was the passport to escape from economic and social deprivation to success and prosperity.

However economic realities are such that pressures from other sectors have resulted in the erosion of funding for education in real terms despite the colossal sum spent annually on free education. This has resulted in the higher education sector not being able to keep up with the provision of a sufficient number of places in our Universities to keep up with the growth of population as well as the growth in numbers of students seeking higher educational opportunities.

There have been attempts in the past by private higher educational institutions to introduce private fee levying courses of study in SriLanka which failed to gain ground partly due to the resistance and objections by students in the state sector institutions and others, on the basis that such qualifications had the potential to dilute and undermine similar courses conducted by the Local Universities.
The argument was that being private institutions they will be more concerned in earning money than imparting knowledge and therefore drop standards for better profit, and the entry requirements would be lowered and therefore persons getting in to follow such courses would get in to do so based on reasons other than merit, thereby cheating the persons who are more eligible to get it but who are unable to afford it. The counter argument is that while the more affluent parents can afford to send their children abroad for higher studies the middle class parents are left with no option if their children failed to gain a place within the 25000 lucky students who are selected to local Universities.

At Long last the government has realized that unless a solution is found there will be many students who will be deprived of a decent education which is a loss to themselves as well as to the country. In this context Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake must be lauded for taking a bold step to allow foreign Universities to Establish here. There are already many Foreign Universities offering a plethora of Degrees in SriLanka in collaboration with local private institutes of higher studies which is a step in the right direction and one that will lead to the realization of the dream of Minister Dissanayake and the government of establishing local campuses of foreign universities, to alleviate the problems faced by our students to earn a good education.

However a note of caution must be made at this juncture and that is to not fall into the trap of allowing low quality cheap educational qualifications to be foisted on unsuspecting local students, for the sake of making a fast buck, instead of providing genuine high quality courses of study leading to recognized qualifications. Here it is noteworthy to suggest that no course of study be allowed to be taught here that does not compare well with the similar qualifications of the local universities.

The temptation is great and the rewards are rich to introduce watered down courses of study , particularly by non local universities as it will give them a ready supply of unsuspecting students here who will be tempted by shorter and cheaper courses, while they will get the income without the burden of turning out graduates and diplomats of poor quality, knowing that they will be practicing here and not in their own countries. We doubt if some of these courses will ever be allowed to be conducted in their own countries. If this is allowed to happen it will only help in diluting the Accepted, recognized, well taught local Qualifications and strengthen the arguments of detractors of such Foreign courses of studies and Universities. It is incumbent on Minister Dissanayake and the government ensure that such courses of studies conducted here by Foreign Universities with local collaboration are of the best quality, accredited by the respective professional bodies in the case of professional courses, taught by adequately qualified lecturers and not quacks and such courses are conducted under good conditions in well equipped facilities.

As a teacher engaged in the teaching of Quantity Surveying, and the incumbent president of the Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Sri Lanka(IQSSL) and the SriLankan Chapter of the RICS (The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), I observe with concern the number of Courses in Quantity Surveying being offered by many organizations, courses that are Local as well as Courses offered from Foreign Universities, which vary from as little as 3 months in duration to 4 years as in the Case of the University of Moratuwa.
The aim of any prospective student must be to arm him or herself with an educational qualification that will assist him or her in their chosen field to advance their carrier. Generally a person pursuing a professional career path would want to end up with a qualification accepted by the respective local and/or international professional body for membership.

The Bachelor of Quantity Surveying (Hons) course in Quantity Surveying offered by the University of Moratuwa is the only Course Acredited by the RICS (UK) and the IQS(SL), taught in SriLanka at present and is the standard for acceptance for corporate membership of the IQS(SL). The only alternate pathway to IQSSL membership for people qualified at lesser levels is to sit for direct examinations conducted by the IQSSL. It is in the interest of the students seeking a career in any subject area to check out and make sure that the course of study that they wish to pursue will in fact give them a qualification that will allow this. There are many courses of Study in Quantity Surveying offered by both Local Institutions on their own and in collaboration with foreign Universities that are not accredited, which means that such degrees will not be accepted by the IQSSL for direct corporate membership.

It is my opinion, that 3 months for example is a ridiculously short period for a course in QS. People who are looking to follow a course in QS or for that matter in any study area must realize that for a reasonable knowledge in any subject area to be properly imparted, the course must be of sufficient duration, with sufficient contact time (Hours per week), have a suitable assessment regime and be taught by qualified lecturers. It has been brought to our notice, that some lecturers teaching at some of these institutions do not possess any formal recognizable qualifications and some others qualified in other fields not relevant to subjects taught or such subjects have not been a part of their own courses of study. (The U of M and all other Universities require their lecturers to have a minimum first degree (B.Sc or BA) in the subject area with classes, higher degrees and/or professional qualifications.

There are courses of different level, such as technical, diploma and Professional so that as a guide the shorter the programme the lesser will be the level of qualification. Therefore do not be misguided into believing that a course of any duration will give you the maximum qualification and give eligibility for membership of professional institutions. So prospective students please check up these aspects prior to committing to any course of study and parting with the well earned money of your parents or yourselves. Short is not necessarily better and cheap not necessarily good. Prof Chitra Weddikkara