Dear State University Students…

2016 Feb 21

Dear State University Students,

You and I both, are the future of this country. You and I both, deserve to have one.

The only thing that comforts us after a long day of lectures is the thought of being able to finally go home. Right after lectures were over at 5, I got into my vehicle and was stuck in a terrible traffic to what nearly seemed like about an hour or so. I was intrigued to see hundreds of university student, flocked together, rally down the road with what looked like red strips of cloth around their head which read ‘Education is a right’. I was confused.

If education is a “Right” as they claim it to be, is it only right for the students who get through the GCE Advanced Level Examinations with flying colours to receive this education they speak of?

Let’s take a look at the bigger picture here. There are 3 groups here;

1. The “smart” ones who get through the GCE A/Ls with flying colours and get into local universities.
2. The “wealthy” ones who can afford to go to University abroad (regardless of their results).
3. The “not so smart” yet “not so wealthy” ones who don’t get into to the local universities nor can afford University abroad and therefore has to settle for a private degree awarding body in Sri Lanka (this includes those who sat for both National and Cambridge/Edexcel Exams)

Now the problem is those belonging to the 1st sector here thinks that since they got through the GCE A/Ls with flying colours, they are smartest of them all and only they should have the privilege of higher Education merely due to the fact that they worked hard during their two years of A/L’s and got through the exams.

One could say that since they worked hard enough, they should deserve it. But don’t they already have the perk of obtaining higher education for “FREE”, whereas the rest of them have to pay for their education?

Ok, say they do have a legit point. But what’s the solution they have to offer? Closing down private universities and thereby curtailing the “Right to Education” (as rightfully mentioned by them in their protests) of those belonging to Group 03.

But if they are to consider their argument in a whole, where some of them study hard and get through to University as opposed to some don’t study at all yet get through to University because of money, and that this system is not a fair and just; they should protest against both Groups 02 & 03.

LET’S LOOK AT SOME FACTORS THAT OUR FELLOW STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FAIL (OR RATHER PRETEND NOT TO) TO SEE.

Education is a “RIGHT”

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory.

Therefore, Education cannot be curtailed to the “smart” or the “rich” (meaning, it cannot only be accessible to those in Group 01 or 02).

What about those that sit for the Cambridge or Edexcel A/L exams?

These are the ones in Group 03. There are hundreds of students in Sri Lanka who have to stay back to complete their higher education because either their parents find it unable to afford expensive course fees or due to other ‘family-associated’ reasons. What about them? Don’t you think they studied hard enough too? For them, it’s not about not being able to be among the handful to get into state uni, for them it’s about having no other choice. There are students in my class with straight A’s and Island and World prizes who have no option but opt for education here because foreign universities are too expensive to afford. What about their ‘right’ to education then?

Why should a 3 hour paper decide the fate of a human being?

Not all of us have the privilege of getting through ALs with results good enough to help us get into a local uni. There could be many reasons for this. But does this mean we need to put another year of our life on a standstill for the second or third try at the exam while our friends abroad are enjoying the luxuries of foreign universities while making a living and establishing a career?

Sri Lanka has one of the Highest Youth Unemployment Rates with a staggering 21.7% last year, and, the concept of 3 hour paper deciding the fate of an average Sri Lankan is to blame.

We have an Education system where students after the O/L examinations stay at home for about 6 – 8 months straight and where have to wait for more than 18 months to start university after completing our A/Ls (that’s in the case they get in, if they don’t 2^nd and 3^rd try means more years added to that). This is two years of a student’s life, which means when now they enter universities they are aged between 20, 21 whereas if they didn’t have those two years of slack time, they would be so much younger and this is always an advantage when it comes to education and your career.

But then again what’s even interesting is the fact that when considering unemployment rates in the country by level of education, the following is the case which is rather disheartening.

Sri Lanka Unemployment Rate Index; Source: The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka

This should remind us of the situation the country is in at the moment.

Private Universities don’t offer degrees for sale

These private degree awarding bodies aren’t really places you can buy degrees from. You have to face exams, do presentations, give in completed coursework on time, attend lectures, and at the end of the day pass the examinations they have in order to obtain a degree. And sometimes it’s tougher than getting through the exams at local unis as for private unis where your final Exam answer sheets will be sent abroad to be marked where an unknown professor will mark your paper as opposed to where in the local university your everyday professor marks the papers giving leverage on the marking criteria.

Our fellow State University Students refer to private universities as “Upadhi Kada”. I should mention that in this case, the local universities are “Upadhi Dansel”. As the only difference is we pay an average sum money in lieu of our tuition fees as opposed to where the people of this country pool in, in the form of taxes, to pay their tuition fees.

Private Hospitals exist. Yet Government Hospitals are better

Private hospitals in the country are now improving with new facilities and technology. But, it’s still the government hospitals that people go to, when worse comes to worst. Why? Because the government hospitals have better doctors and better resources as opposed to private hospitals. In the same context, the argument of that the students in National Universities make is that, private universities buying out lecturers for higher wages becomes null and void, as the perks of working for government institutions outweigh those of the former, the better professors and lecturers opt to stay in National Universities.

One degree at state university and another at a private university, simultaneously.

The world is competitive. Every Tom Dick & Harry has a degree, so in order to thrive in life, students know they need a class with their degree or maybe have a double degree of qualification.

Let me tell you what’s ironic, those going for the rallies in the morning, protesting the close of private universities would in the afternoon, come for lectures at a private degree awarding institution. Oh, how self-centred society is nowadays.

BACK TO THE MAIN ISSUE…

Last week my friend from the counterpart state University wrote an article (if you haven’t read it yet, check it out below) on how SAITM is deceiving their students. One of the main arguments were about how those with extremely low results can be admitted into following a medicine degree and how this, they see as unfair. Yes, they are admitted. But if they aren’t up to the required standards they would not pass the examination, meaning they won’t obtain their qualifications as a doctor. Hence, this wouldn’t be of any hindrance to regardless of where they obtain their degree they would be qualified. Isn’t that all that really matters?

He furthermore mentioned how some of them cannot get through the ERPM examination. These students pay for their tuition. So when they fail, it’s the money of their parents that go down the drain. But what about those in state universities? When they fail, it’s also OUR parent’s money that go down the drain.

Then comes the issue of utilising the resources of state hospitals. How are these government hospitals maintained? Through taxes paid by the entire populous of our country. The students who attend SAITM are also inclusive when we refer to the entire populous of our country. Which means, they also contribute towards the maintenance of these hospitals in addition to the sum of money paid by SAITM to the Government for the using these hospitals.

Taking into consideration the above, how is it unfair for the SAITM students to utilize these hospitals in their path to becoming doctors who will one day serve the people of Sri Lanka?

Summing it all up, “Education is a Right” they say. It only becomes a right when each and every student has the opportunity to obtain it.

“Everybody is a Genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid.”

SAITM: Deceiving students today, the public tomorrow