New Govt to set up mechanism to monitor, regulate private universities

• It will apply for current private universities and ones to be set up in the future 

By Kelum Bandara  

The government is in the process of establishing a standard operating procedure (SOP) to regulate and monitor private universities –both in operation currently and to be established in the future-, an official said .  

The new government will press ahead with the initiative taken by the previous rule but fresh inputs will be included in the SOP to be cleared by the Cabinet first and approved by Parliament next.  

The official who wished to remain anonymous said there are over 20 private institutions operating at the moment in the country offering degrees.  

In the past, the successive governments tried to enact legislation to monitor and regulate such private universities while promoting Sri Lanka as an education hub. However, such attempts went awry because of resistance by various students’ movements which were opposed to the encouragement of private university education.  

At present, the state universities are regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC). However, it does not have any authority to ensure the quality of degrees being offered by non-state or private universities.  

“The SOP is meant to regulate, monitor and accredit private universities while ensuring quality of academic programmes being offered. It will apply to private universities currently in operation and ones to be set up in the future,” the official said.