Student unions and university lecturers have raised strong objections to a recent circular issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) requiring all student-organised events in State universities to be conducted under the supervision of a responsible university officer.
Commission Circular No. 02/2026, dated 6 February and addressed to vice chancellors, rectors, and directors of State institutions, directs that all student-organised university events be held under the supervision of a designated university official until further notice.
The circular states that the directive has been issued following concerns raised by the UGC’s Centre for Gender Equity/Equality (CGEE), which had received a significant number of complaints regarding student-organised events conducted without supervision.
It notes that such events pose risks to student safety and well-being and undermine universities’ responsibility to maintain a safe and secure learning environment.
Under the directive, a staff member or responsible university officer must be present at all times during rehearsals and preparations, including decoration and setup, during the event itself, and after the event until all students have dispersed. Events that do not comply with the directive “should not be held under any circumstances,” the circular states.
The decision was taken at the UGC’s 1,162nd meeting held on 7 January.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning regarding the circular, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) said it strongly rejected the circular.
FUTA General Secretary and Senior Lecturer Charudatta Illangasinghe said the directive imposed an unreasonable legal burden on academic staff.
“We do not accept this circular at all. It appears that the UGC has issued it following a Supreme Court ruling regarding ragging, but applying it to all student programmes is problematic. University students are adults, not schoolchildren,” he said.
Illangasinghe warned that formalising supervision through a legal circular could expose lecturers to personal liability. “If lecturers get involved in this way, a major legal problem arises because they would have to take formal responsibility for everything that happens. We absolutely do not agree to be deployed at student events like the Police,” he said.
He added that while lecturers often engaged informally with student activities, making such involvement a legal requirement altered the nature of their role. “When you formalise this through a legal circular, the responsibility for any incident falls squarely on one person. That is a very serious situation, and it is not a role we are willing to take on,” he said.
The Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) also criticised and rejected the circular, describing it as an attempt to curtail democratic space within universities.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, IUSF Convenor Madushan Chandrajith said the new requirement amounted to excessive control over student activities.
“Now they are proposing that, legally, from the moment a university event begins until the very last student leaves the premises, a specific person must be present to supervise it. They have even stated that in locations where such continuous supervision is difficult or inconvenient to maintain, they will not allow any events to be organised at all,” he said.
Multiple attempts to contact UGC Chairman Senior Professor Kapila Seneviratne for comment were unsuccessful.