Academics condemn student activists arrest

17 May 2014 08:01 am Views - 4245

University academics today condemned the abrupt arrest of the sixteen student activists yesterday evening, adding such actions will only further provoke students than solve their issue.

Federation of the University Teachers Association (FUTA) President, Dr. Chandraguptha Thenuwara speaking to Daily Mirror said intimidating students is not the response to the authorities’ failure to address student grievances.

“Students’ demands and concerns regarding the issue on Allied Health Sciences course quality and the reduction of the course duration are fair. They have been reaching out to the authorities for over a period of three months but have received no response,” he said.

Dr. Thenuwara went on to say that other concerns raised in universities countrywide by student groups demanding a raise of the Mahapola scholarship, accommodation issues as well as matters regarding the quality of their academic courses too are justified.

“We urge the authorities to release the arrested students immediately and reconsider their approach to resolving student grievances. We request the responsible authorities to put a stop to the harassment and arbitrary arrests of the undergraduates and instead, resort to negotiations and discussions with the students,” he added. (Lakna Paranamanna)