Page 18 - UDYAMA FINAL final for web

One of the principal arguments -nsible education system to ensure leadership to students. The role of
for the existence of public educa- outcome based sustainable univ- good governance enables the
tion is social responsibility. Alth- ersity system. universities to manage relations
ough this argument remained among all these stakeholders to
unchanged to make freely availa- Adapting and implementing the ensure the sustainability, which
ble education for all the children, system of Good University Gove- starts and finishes with govern-
today the responsibility over the rnance (GUG) have become an ance .
free education in Sri Lanka stand inevitable criterion for the univer-
with many questions from all the sities to improve the quality. GUG People recognise the university
stakeholders with reference to is intended to provide a balance life as the best life in the universe.
return on the investment of pub- between the autonomy granted to The universities should be able to
lic. Two major questions are; do institutions and accountability. establish the world of university
the public education produce des- Limited opportunities at the state life beyond the boundaries of aca-
ired outcomes? Are the public universities with increasing demic, culture, ethnic, gender,
resources utilized efficiently and demand of higher education has demography, geography and so
effectively to produce desired led a large number of private on. This ensures the freedom,
outcomes? All the stakeholders universities to embark on univer- independence, friendship, knowl-
are accountable to answer these sity education. This has led the edge and enjoyment as a global
questions with reference to social state universities to encounter citizen regardless their back-
responsibility. This is more emp- many questions among the gener- grounds and future destinations.
hasized on state universities, as al public over the governance. Unbounded university life ena-
the supreme education institutions Today we are compelled to main- bles the universities to bestow the
that depend 100 percent on the tain the sustainability through the real citizen for the universe
public resources. This responsi- good corporate governance on through six C’s; critical thinking,
bility overarches all the stake- five principles, namely: transpar- creative thinking, collaborative
holders; policy makers, higher ency, accountability, responsibili- skills, continuous learning, citizen
educational authorities, university ty, independence, and fairness. of the universe, and caring for
administration, academic and non The GUG has been further signi- others. First of all, in the state
-academic staff and students etc. fied over the state universities to universities of Sri Lanka, we sho-
Exemplarily students should ack- guide the countries on genuine uld stop segregation the university
nowledge and accept responsible good governance practices bey- life according their chosen aca-
education instead of free educa- ond the political manifesto and demic disciplines. University life
tion in all their performance and propagation. The universities are should be common and shared by
behaviour in the outcome based much more complicated organiza- every student either they are und-
education. In the state universi- tions than the business organiza- ergraduates or postgraduates, ev-
ties students do not pay for their tions. They should be provided en though they pursue academic
education, staff are paid higher with appropriate governance programmes in diverse disci-
wages and given privileges com- structure to deal with complicated plines. While promoting cross
pare to other sectors in the coun- and diverse stakeholders that cultural communication, cross
try, even though country finds begin from ministerial political discipline learning also should be
shortage in public fund. Yet, pub- promoted to enrich the students
lic funding of higher education with intra and interdisciplinary
and research is still important. Although free knowledge. The universities also
The concept of public respo- education system is must bring halt to inter faculty
nsibility must be understood politically sound, yielding is and interdisciplinary competitions
much more widely. As state univ- not sustainable any more... and event that lead to further
ersities in Sri Lanka depend on fragmentation and separation of
the public fund and resources, we the students. The students must be
are responsible for more than 20 It should be transformed into divided into different colleges or
million people in the country. responsible education system to houses through blending of div-
Although free education system is ensure outcome based erse background and academic
politically sound, yielding is not sustainable university disciplines. The universities be
sustainable any more. Hence, it system able to embody the concept of
should be transformed into respo- “salad bow” with unique and

16 January 2021