The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa proposing four amendments to the Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill if it is to be speedily passed through Parliament.
In the letter to President, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Chair of the committee appointed by the party to study the proposed bill states that the SLFP believes that considering the prevailing situation in the country, the best solution to issues related to the bill would be the one arrived at during the meeting of the government parliamentary group on August 2, which was to first appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the bill and to arrive at a decision on it within a short timeframe after a wide-ranging social dialogue.
However, if the bill is to be adopted speedily without such an action, then the SLFP would like to propose four key amendments to the draft, the letter added.
The proposed amendments are as follows:
1) Ensure Kotelawala National Defence University remains under the control and regulatory authority of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
2) Detail clearly a proper mechanism (based on the Z score) to be used when enrolling undergraduates other than those from the military into the university.
3) Since KNDU is a fee-paying university, provide a "pay as you earn" loan scheme for low income students that enables them to study at the university while being employed.
4) Ensure that civilians form the majority in the university's governing bodies.
The letter has informed the President that these amendments have been proposed after a wide-ranging dialogue between the party's graduates' union, student and youth bodies and the parliamentary group.
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