SB defends ‘offroad’ entrance to Ruhunu Campus on ‘humanitarian’ grounds

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said in Parliament this week that it was routine for both Government and Opposition MPs to forward him letters along with appeals, from students regarding admission to State universities.

Hence, MP Namal Rajapaksa forwarding him an appeal from a female student was not unusual, he said. The admission of the student to Ruhuna University’s Arts Faculty has led to an uproar, with allegations that it was done outside accepted university admission criteria.

“The student would have met MP Namal Rajapaksa and he, in turn, forwarded the appeal with a note to me to look into the matter. This is a routine thing. I forward the appeal to the UGC and they act according to the rules governing university admission,” he said.

The Minister gave this explanation when Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe questioned in Parliament on Thursday this admission based on an appeal accompanied with a letter from a politician, which is outside the laid down procedure of admission of students to universities. “UGC Chairperson, Prof Kshanika Hirimburegama had stated that, although this application had been submitted after the period allocated for submission of such appeals, the student was admitted to the university only on humanitarian grounds, while no heed was paid to the politician’s letter attached to the said appeal,” he said.

This, he said, has resulted in a breach of trust among students who have completed their Advanced Levels (A/L) and students following their Advanced Levels, targeting admission to the universities, as well as those youth who had no occasion for such admission, owing to its highly competitive nature, even after passing the ALs, and among also their parents about the procedure of admission to the universities.

Minister Dissanayake said that the student in question had submitted an appeal following correct format and procedure, and her appeal was accepted on humanitarian grounds. “The student had obtained more marks than the cutoff marks at the A/L exam. The cutoff point was 1.3, and the student in question had scored 1.4. Her parents were hospitalized during the period given to submit university entrance applications. Due to this she missed the deadline for applications. She had sent in a valid, medical certificate along with her appeal, and hence, the UGC Appeals Committee had decided to grant her entrance to the university,” the Minister said. He denied any wrongdoing in the admission process. He said there were a total of 2,478 appeals by students who had sat for their A L in 2011, and of these 503 had been entertained.