'Country leaped into information age due to peace'

Research aspirations in Sri Lankan universities could not be realized due to 30 years of terrorism and war. You all belong to that generation. The generation-long conflict in our country deprived you of enjoying the generation's benefits, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna of University of Ruhuna addressing the General Convocation recently.

"Within four years of peace, Sri Lanka has surpassed all other South Asian nations in growth. The dawn of peace has given Sri Lanka the greatest of opportunities to leap into the information age," he said.

Ruhuna has much promise and potential to re-emerge as South Asia's newest centre of learning and innovation. It can propel Sri Lanka's economy from agrarian to high-tech, by positioning itself as a foundation and fountain of knowledge, he said.

A university should make every effort to visualize and prepare for future scenarios. To make this leap, it is crucial to build national and international partnerships with government and the private sector, especially industry, he said.

Professor Gunaratna said academics must think outside the box and many are already doing this today. To encourage creativity, appointments and promotions should be made on merit, ability and performance. In this exercise, seniority should be only one of the many criteria. This approach will accelerate innovation and dynamism, he said.

In a rapidly changing world, Sri Lankan universities should align themselves to producing the graduates that can meet the nation's demands from governance to entrepreneurship, science and technology. The greatest flaw of our university system is its inability to keep up with the nation's extant and emerging needs, the professor said.

Professor Gunaratna said one must never forget that the impetus for the JVP uprising rooted in south was the birth of a generation of educated but unemployable youth. The University of Ruhuna should continue to nurture every student's flair for entrepreneurship that enables them to create their own jobs upon graduation, he said.

Professor Gunaratna said to influence the human terrain, diverse partnerships are required. In an age of specialization, no single institution has either all the resources or knowledge available. Even the world's leading universities leverage on other institutions of higher learning, think tanks, NGOs and industry. To benefit from each other's strengths, academics build partnerships across countries, universities, disciplines, the public and private sectors, as well as civil society. Change can be brought about not by working alone, but through collaboration. The engine of change is built through wide-ranging partnerships, Professor Gunaratna said.

"University should be a natural bridge between government and community. By creating a university town, the connection to the community will grow. To bond with the community, the university's community of volunteers should advise and assist cultivators and conservators and create technology firms and innovation start-ups," he said.