Archives

Improve image of universities

The ripples from the death of Ovitigala Samantha, the undergraduate of the Sri Jayawardhanapura University a week ago, are certain to be felt throughout the country's academia and society in general. Here was a student who had stood up for the safety of new entrants to the campus and was allegedly beaten to death for his principled stand.

Because the students who allegedly opposed Samantha and his anti-ragging group have links to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the public scope of the tragedy has been enlarged and impacted on the general political debate in the country. The JVP has been forced on the defensive by this death and now has a duty to conduct an internal inquiry against it's members who have allegedly been involved in violent acts in the universities if it is to win credibility among the general public.

While the opponents of the JVP have gleefully pointed to the incident as yet more proof that the party has not evolved from it's former terroristic form into a democratic party, we must note that the party now as a recognized political party with substantial representation in Parliament must act responsibly and improve it's behavior.

During the late 1980s when the JVP used the universities of the country as the vanguard in its anti-establishment uprising the campuses had to be closed. At this time it appeared that the majority of the students who wanted to continue with their studies had little choice but to fall in line with the JVP writ and become violent revolutionaries. This was the time that the public perception that university undergraduates are terrorists was first created.

The incident where Samantha died also had the unfortunate effect of reinforcing that opinion among a large section of the public that our universities are peopled by students who resort to violence and are generally undisciplined. The news stories about Samantha's death that dominated the print and electronic media no doubt gave weight to this impression.

This is indeed unfortunate. The majority of our university students are not violent, political animals. They are young men and women who have studied very hard to come through a highly competitive selection process. Most of them want to obtain suitable degrees and use them to get employment as soon as possible. Many who are from economically disadvantaged families also need to become wage earners quickly to support other members of their families.

Therefore unrest on campus is actually engineered and projected by a few students who have eyes on a future political career, or are tools in the hands of interested political forces. The majority, who do not want to have anything to do with this kind of activity have to suffer, because graduates of our universities are viewed with fear and even loathing by society and when they seek employment upon graduation, few employers want them on board.

There cannot be a ban on politics in our universities in the manner followed by some East Asian countries. Students are voters and have political rights like any other citizens and a ban would violate their fundamental rights. Political parties would also like to surf the campuses for future leaders and also use student politics as a test bed for new ideas and philosophies.

At the same time this political activity must not ruin the good name of universities to a level that all the students are given a bad name because of the acts of a few.

So it is imperative that the general student body as well as faculty members work hard to improve the image of the universities in the eyes of the general public. Most of the universities in the country are doing good work that benefit society. A few faculties have woken up the to fact that the plum jobs out there are with the private sector which demand a high skill level and disciplined workers. They have made the private sector partners in some of the courses. This is an example other faculties ought to follow.

In neighbouring India headhunters from the big time corporations routinely visit the universities and interact with students to spot talent early. The universities in Sri Lanka must try to reach that level as soon as possible.

It is also important for the academics in the universities to project the substantive work they are involved in to the public through the media. When all the stories the media gets from the campuses are about unrest and brutal ragging, it is no wonder that public opinion is against the campuses and their products.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager