“Education is not a privilege, it is a right,” stated Anura Edirisinghe at the press conference held on September 7 in a leading hotel in Colombo. Edirisinghe is one among many who has applied to do his Masters in Sweden and is awaiting confirmation of his travel documents.  
The organization ‘Let’s Love to Learn’ seeks to spread awareness of issues faced by students who are experiencing challenges during the preparation of applications to immigrate to Sweden for their higher education.  
‘Let’s Love to Learn’ President Aravindha Rathnayake speaking to the Daily Mirror spoke about the issues faced by students waiting to migrate to Sweden.  
“The application process for education in Sweden starts each year on October 17. Through this, we have an opportunity to apply for the Bachelor’s as well as the Master’s degree, starting with the process of submitting documents relevant to our educational qualifications. After submitting the documents, they will evaluate the documents and publish the results. On March 31 for the Master’s degree and April 5 for the Bachelor’s degree. Then we have to apply for the residence permit to the Sweden Migration Agency and afterwards submit the required documents where they evaluate the documents and respond to whether we are eligible or not. This process takes around 180 days.  

“The university clearly said that the last date for arrival was August 28. Now, the problem is that a lot of students who have applied from Sri Lanka are awaiting a decision from the migration agency. Around 980 students have applied this year and already only 406 students have been accepted. The rest, including us, are still awaiting their decisions. We have already paid for the tuition fees and attended to the required matters and are awaiting a decision, but regardless of the decision that’s supposed to be taken, the deadline has already passed.  

“This is the major issue we are trying to express here and this is the major issue we have discussed with the Director of Europe and Northern American regions. They promised to attend to this matter and will contact the Swedish authorities through the Sri Lankan Embassy in Sweden and will discuss and try to find a solution on behalf of us,” Rathnayake said.  
Edirisinghe, attached to ‘Let’s Love to Learn’, who also applied for his Masters, said, “The students who applied have followed the necessary procedures and protocol. Then, when the university step is over, the next step is to apply for migration to obtain a visa or a collar residence permit card. That part was also done by the students. From our end, everything has been completed yet the concern is the decision for approval has still not been taken.  

“Therefore, the main purpose of this conference is to make an appeal to the world, Swedish people and education policymakers on behalf of the affected students of Sri Lanka where the main issue is the decision that must be taken to accept, reject or give a reasonable explanation for the delay is pending,” said Edirisinghe.