Ragging of freshers in Universities:

Minister talks tough

Uditha Kumarasinghe and Irangika Range

Higher Education Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala told Parliament yesterday that undergraduates found guilty of ragging freshers will be promptly expelled from the universities.

"We will take strict action against those responsible in terms of the law of the country, the Minister said.

Tabling the universities (Amendment) Bill, the Minister said a number of steps have been taken to curb ragging in India.

A notice called 'an Act of ragging may land you in jail' appears at the entrance of each university in India. "We have also decided to adopt this system in our higher education system as ragging has completely interrupted the learning environment in universities, he said. The Minister said the Indian Government considers ragging as a human-rights abuse. Television cameras have been installed in each university to monitor the situation, he said.

"It is reported that university students are used by certain political parties as instruments of political mobilisation. Therefore, legislation must be enforced to prevent ragging in Sri Lanka." Meanwhile, measures have been taken to formulate a national qualification framework to curb bogus educational activities. It is reported that several bogus educational institutions are engaged in conducting courses and granting certificates illegally. Therefore, with the implementation of the framework, this situation will be eradicated, he said.

The Minister said the prevailing education system in Sri Lanka has been commended by the World Bank.

The World Bank has pledged to extend its support to uplift higher education in Sri Lanka upto 2015.

"With this support, we will be able to turn our universities into global centres for learning in the near future," he said.

Plans are afoot to increase the intake of students upto 25,000 within the next few years to universities. He said the intake of university students was 22,069 in 2007 while it was 22,846 in 2008.