25 April 2022 12:00 am Views - 132
By Sandun A Jayasekera
The academic community of Sri Lanka has been highly disturbed and distressed over the recent appointment of the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University of Colombo (UOC) by President Rajapaksa, ignoring the merit list duly prepared by the University Council and accepted norms and procedure in the university system, the Daily Mirror learns. The normal procedure is to give an extension to the incumbent VC if and when he or she completes her first tenure as the VC with satisfactory performance and diligence.
In this case, President Rajapaksa has recommended Prof. H.D.Karunaratne as the new VC of the UoC bypassing the nomination of the incumbent VC, Prof. Chandrika Wijeratne who came first in the merit list of three applicants with 89.6 marks as opposed to 66 by Prof. Karunaratne sent in by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the Presidential Secretariat. The University Council conducts the interview with a close look at the academic qualifications and proficiency in scholarly affairs and management of applicants before compiling the merit list for the post of the VC subject to the final approval by the President.
As a result of this highly unfair and arrogant handling of affairs of one of the highest seats of education in the country, the entire academia of the national university system has been thoroughly disappointed and dejected, one of the council members, Tilak Karunaratne, a former Parliamentarian and a chairman of the CSE has said in his letter of resignation from the council membership sent to the chairman of the UGC, Prof. Sampath Amaratunga.
Other council members who have already tendered resignations are Rev.Fr Ivan Perera, Ajith Gunawardana, Semith Kumaranatunga and Mano Ramanathan.
Meanwhile, the ‘Alumnus of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo’ in a communiqué on what it called “The unprofessional way of appointing a vice chancellor to the University of Colombo’ says that the unprofessional act by the President in using considerations outside the needs of the highest seat of learning when appointing a new Vice Chancellor for the University of Colombo, three months before the due date of 12th April 2022, severely dented the little respect the independent academia and undergraduates had for the President.
“In fact, recently when a politically motivated Buddhist priest whose temple premises was used as a meeting place for the politics of the government when in opposition, was becoming critical of the government, was promptly appointed as the Chancellor of the Colombo University. His criticisms were contained as expected, but sadly at the expense of the dignity of the University,” they said.