As the three-month-old agitation by teachers, which has crippled universities in Sri Lanka, including Jaffna, shows no sign of ending in an amicable manner; prominent academics from India have joined a large group of intellectuals from different parts of the globe, to express solidarity with the protesting teachers.
They said that they were “deeply concerned” with the crisis in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector.
In a joint statement, 22 scholars noted that only 1.86 per cent of the GDP was being spent on education in the island nation.
They pointed that the drastic decline in state investment was related to mounting issues in the education sector.
“Such a predicament has led to the university teachers’ protests, agitations by teachers’ unions and demonstrations by students. These interventions have brought our attention to the crisis of education in Sri Lanka. We stand in solidarity with the teachers, academics and students in Sri Lanka, who have taken it upon themselves to shed some light on this crisis,” said the statement, signed by noted economists such as Venkatesh Athreya, C. P. Chandrasekhar, Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat Patnaik, Utsa Patnaik, and C. Rammanohar Reddy.
“The post-war period holds much promise for the people in Sri Lanka, and in that hope, we appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka, university and teachers’ unions, students’ movements, parents’ organisations, and foreign aid donors to engage the crisis in education, and arrive at a solution that can rebuild the foundation for a democratic and prosperous society. The international community is watching Sri Lanka to see if past achievements in education will once again be revitalised,” it said.
“Our appeal to address the crisis in education has as much to do with education, as it has to do with building the foundation of democracy. Prioritising and democratising education is imperative to the process of rebuilding a just and prosperous society. As people who have invested in accessible, fair and just education for all persons, globally, we strongly urge the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate note of the education crisis, negotiate with teachers and university teachers’ unions in good faith, and put in place a vibrant process to address this serious concern,” it added.
Keywords: Sri Lankan universities, Sri Lanka teachers strike
TNA it would do you good to work in harmony with all other Sri Lankans
to create a harmonious Sri Lanka without leading the poor northern
tamil people up the garden path yet again as you have done for the
past thirty years. Because of you a whole generation of tamil youth
have perished as have sinhalese youth. Is that not enough? Please take
a leaf out of the upcountry tamils and muslims book who have always
worked harmoniously with the majority to create a positive and new Sri
Lanka. Look at the upcountry tamils and muslims, they are example Sri
Lankans. They don't demand bits and pieces of the country and yet are
at the forefront of all decision making processes in the country and
are harmoniously getting elected to the provincial councils too. They
want provincial councils and the 13A implemented but with the consent
of the majority and as far as it can go and not more and as a result
we have the provincial council system as far as it can function in a
small country like Sri Lanka
As you have correctly realized, the critical situation in Sri Lankan education is closely linked to democracy. My concern is that it is also linked to development and particularly to the dominant developmental model.
You are no doubt aware that not only Sri Lanka but the whole human species including of course the over a billion of you our closest neighbors stand threatened by Pollution and Global Climate Change, Rapid Resource Depletion, Global Monetary Collapse and the increasing incredibility of the Growth Model of Development.
In Sri Lanka many of us are aware that the situation is rapidly reaching a critical point after which events may unfold so fast and unpredictably that it will be very difficult to respond. We intend to be prepared for this development which now appears to be unavoidable. This requires highly educated human resources including researchers of the highest caliber and this is ONE of the reasons why we require priority in terms of budget allocations for educati
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