brand logo

J’pura academics to protest KNDU Bill

19 Jul 2021

  • Silent protest at 12 noon today
BY Dinitha Rathnayake The Sri Jayewardenepura University’s Teachers Association is to conduct a silent protest against the proposed General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill in front of the main entrance of the University today (20). The silent protest was scheduled to start at 12 noon. The protest's focus is on the KNDU Bill, and the main concerns raised would be that the said Association opposes any act towards the militarisation of education, whilst also opposing the lack of University Grants Commission (UGC) oversight, along with the composition of, and the extraordinary powers vested with, the KNDU governing body. The Association also raised its concerns about not opening universities for academic activities. “Universities have been offering online classes and exams for over a year. We are all aware that online classes and exams are ineffective, particularly at the undergraduate level. Meanwhile, even though school teachers have been prioritised for vaccination by the Government, university lecturers have not been prioritised.  “Furthermore, students going abroad are given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while neglecting students in national universities. Therefore, we oppose the fact that the Government has not designated university teachers or students as a priority group for vaccination. We therefore demand that universities be opened for academic activities as soon as possible, following the vaccination of academic staff, non-academic staff, and students,” the Association stated. “History shows two main continuous plans to privatise education. One is an attempt to amend the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978 so that private universities can be regulated by the UGC itself. The other is to create a parallel body to regulate private universities. The KNDU Bill attempts to privatise education through a different governing body. Since that proved unsuccessful due to public protests, the President has now stated that the Universities Act would be amended,” stated Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda yesterday (19). “It is the same goal achieved through different paths. If the Government is attempting to amend the Universities Act, we are discussing with all parties on how to defeat this stance of the Government as well.”   


More News..