• FUTA claims last cadre revision done in 2017

Sri Lanka’s university system is currently operating with only around 6,900 lecturers despite requiring nearly 14,000 academic staff, the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) claimed, warning that the shortage is affecting the quality of higher education as student numbers continue to rise.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (5), FUTA President Prof Prageeth Weerathunga said universities are running at a lecturer availability level of more than 50 per cent below the required cadre, with staffing levels not revised since 2017. “In 2015, the number of students enrolled was 25,000. Now 50,000 is taken as a batch. In a year, within a university, there are around 190,000 students. But since 2017, a cadre revision has not happened. According to the teacher-student ratio that should be maintained, there should be around 14,000 lecturers, but there are only 6,900 lecturers. And even among them, a considerable number are leaving the country annually,” he said.

He said that the shortage is being driven largely by academic migration, particularly among senior lecturers and professors with PhDs and long years of experience, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, where overseas opportunities are more attractive. "Salary structure and taxation are also among key factors that push academics to leave. Usually, other government workers do not have their salary curtailed to have a pension. When they retire, they get a separate allowance as a pension. But for us, it is a contributory fund - it is by curtailing our salary that we get the pension. Hence, when the rest of the salary is further curtailed for scholarships and other necessities inside the university, the remainder is not enough to maintain a satisfactory lifestyle."

Speaking further, he said that around 1,250 lecturers have left the country in recent years, with STEM-related fields seeing the highest outflow. He added that recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult as fewer qualified scholars are willing to accept local academic posts due to better opportunities abroad. He also said that several facilities previously available to academic staff have been reduced over time. “Back then we had a car permit. Now we don't receive that either,” he said.