Prof. Saumya Liyanage should be reinstated: Prof. Uyangoda

By Nishantha Hewage

Ousted Prof. Saumya Liyanage should be reinstated to his position, political scientist and academic Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda said speaking at a press conference held yesterday (08) at the Centre for Society and Religion.   
The conference was organised by a collective of Sri Lankan academics to table their views on the ousting of academic and actor Prof. Saumya Liyanage from his post in the University of Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA).   Joining the conference via Zoom, Prof. Uyangoda said Prof. Liyanage was not at fault. “The effective date of a particular degree is the day that the thesis relevant to the degree is submitted. Prof. Uyangoda said that it was a grave error made by the University Council and they needed to quickly rectify this.   

“Prof. Liyanage submitted his doctoral thesis to La Trobe University in Australia prior to three months of the eight-year-period granted for a lecturer to complete post-graduate studies,” said Prof. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri of the University of Colombo. According to Prof. Dewasiri the removal of Prof. Liyanage from professorship and from his post as Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) was an arbitrary decision made by the University Council of the UVPA.