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Measures to improve management of finance in the universities

The Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training is planning to conduct a series of training programs on improvement of management in all universities in Sri Lanka. There had been a number of reports on financial mismanagement in the universities in the recent past. Minister of Tertiary Education and Training Kabir Hashim addressing this issue has taken a number of measures to improve Financial Management and Administration in the Universities.

On the initiative of Minister Kabir Hashim, the World Bank has agreed to fund these programs to improve the quality of management. The Ministry with the assistance of the University Grants Commission has identified key areas in financial management to conduct a series of workshops. These workshops will be conducted with the number of resource personnel from the private sector in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

The workshops will be conducted for a number of days in July commencing from July 11 to August 16. The Minister has invited the Institute of Chartered Accountants to coordinate this program in order to draw the necessary expertise from the private sector finance managers.

One of the key areas identified in the administrative reforms is to update knowledge and skills of the Bursars, Deputy Bursars and so on of all universities and institutions under the ministry. Bursars and Deputy Bursars are the key financial managers in the university system. The budget of each of the universities runs into millions of rupees annually for capital recurrent expenditures. In addition large sums come to universities for funding of projects, some in the form of grants and aid. The officers who handle these large volumes of funds, although qualified individuals are not exposed to continuous updating of the modern accounting concepts and standards. This is a major shortfall in the university system.

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