23 January 2011 06:53 pm Views - 7187
University teachers go abroad for further studies to foreign universities on state expense after signing a bond which stipulates they should return. In his effort to reverse the brain drain, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has however invited them to return to the country and resume work at the local universities.
Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told Daily Mirror yesterday that Minister S.B. Dissanayake would soon seek Cabinet approval to enable these lecturers to return to the country despite the violation of their bonds. Already, Dr. Navaratne said that dozens of such lecturers had agreed to come back.
“Their response is favourable. A university lecturer is supposed to return to the country and work for his or her university for at least six years after completion of his or her post graduate studies. During the time of the war, a lot of lecturers left the country. Now, they can come. Minister Dissanayake will soon submit a Cabinet paper in this regard,” he said.
Also, he said that there would be a lot of career opportunities in Sri Lanka for academics due to the government’s plan to set up non-state universities.
Among those who fled the country due to LTTE threats, is Prof. Ratnajeewan Hoole. He has now back to Sri Lanka after the end of the war. Besides, a large number of lecturers attached to the Eastern University also left the country due to violence at that time.
Three foreign universities including Manipal University of India have already agreed to put up their branch campuses in Sri Lanka by April. (Kelum Bandara)