UNIVERSITIES, ETHNICITY AND POLITICS IN SRI LANKA:
MORE TROUBLE THAN USUAL

John Clifford Holt
(John C Holt is Professor of Religious Studies, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine (USA))

The University System of Sri Lanka: Vision and Reality, K M de Silva and G H Peiris (eds), Macmillan India for ICES, 1995.

In August and November of 1991, as the University of Peradeniya, the oldest university in Sri Lanka, was preparing to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) in Kandy invited several scholars, all of them, intimately associated with the university throughout much of its history, to write papers on various aspects of the university's history. The result is the present volume, a diversified collection of essays reviewing and analysing what has proved to be a very "tempestuous history" indeed.
Educational institutions are often harbingers or mirror images of the problems and triumphs characterizing the larger societies they inhabit, sometimes veritable indices of trends, patterns and transformations affecting their communities-at-large. In reading through the essays of this volume, one cannot help but be struck by how the history of the University of Peradeniya constitutes something of a microcosm of the modern social and political history of Sri Lanka. This is not simply a theoretical maxim. It can be argued convincingly that the politicization of the university historically parallels the intense politicization of the population-at-large.

There are at least two fundamental ways in which the university has been politicized since its founding. In the first instance, one can readily see how the university has become an expression of politically inspired visions of state power formulated and implemented to affect significant social change. More than any of the other themes that surface in these essays, the politicization of the university by the state stands out as perhaps the most crucial factor affecting the quality of education in Sri Lanka. Not only did this process weaken or eliminate the autonomy of the university, in effect usurping from the university its birth right function to determine exactly who will teach what and how to whom, but it helped to create a second kind of politicization of the university as well. When politically inspired students, idealistically intent on challenging the very power of the state, perceived the university, either as an extension of state derived powers and policies, or at least as a symbol of that power, the university itself has turned periodically into a battle ground of political struggle and inevitably of armed conflict and physical violence.

Part 1, written entirely by co-editor K M de Silva in five lucid essays, and Part III, written by his partner co-editor G H Peiris, chronicle in detail the issues, personalities and events aiding and abetting the politicization of the university in both of the senses noted above. de Silva's critical appraisal first focuses on how the early years of the University of Ceylon, under the leadership of Sir Ivor Jennings from 1942 to 1955, a period which "was in every way the heyday of this institution," when "the concept of an autonomous university found wide acceptance not only with the main officials of the government and the leading intellectuals and economic figures of Sri Lankan society but also among all sections of political opinion in the country" [21], and when the university possessed "a corps of highly competent teachers, a lively university tradition and very high academic standards in its examinations" [22] gave way to “a new university leadership which had a much narrower vision... and far less foresight, and which moreover adapted itself uncritically to purely political demands... [so that] the academic and intellectual legacy of this [1942-1955] period was rapidly exhausted" [23]. What, then, were the specific political demands to which the new university leadership under Sir Nicholas Attygalle, Vice-Chancellor from 1955 to 1966, acceded and what were the effects of their implementations? de Silva observes that the greatest pressures exerted by government in the later 1950s and early 1960s were concerned with increasing, almost exponentially in some years, the number of students admitted for instruction to the university, especially in the arts and social sciences, while at the same time demanding that students be taught in the language of their mother tongue. For the university, this meant providing instruction in Sinhala and Tamil as well as in English, so that the university was not only faced with the immense task of fielding the instruction of far more students than it was prepared to accomodate, but it was also, at the same time, asked to triplicate its curriculum. Further compounding the problem of diluting university resources before the university had a reasonable chance of preparing for these massive adjustments, the government, in an ad hoc decision, converted two traditional centers of Buddhist learning (pirivenas) in Colombo to the status of full-fledged universities. The implementation of these decisions were then followed by a series of government directives which resulted in the centralization of university administration under a National Council of Higher Education in 1966, the establishment of six "junior universities" in 1970, and the reorganization of existing campuses into one University of Sri Lanka in 1972, a reorganization which lasted until 1978. While the rapid implementation of these government directives sent university officials and faculties reeling to respond, the last directive resulted, reorganization under one umbrella, amount to a complete political take over of university education, especially since the government's minister of education from 1972 to 1978, Badi-ud din Mahmud, exercised absolute control over the appointments of Vice-Chancellors, presidents of various campuses, registrars and treasurers who, in turn, were simply to be "advised" by the traditional governing authorities of the university (the board of governors, the faculty senate, other faculty committees, etc.). Commenting upon the consequences of this last development, de Silva notes that "there was a high incidence of politicization of university appointments, and victimization of persons known or presumed to be unsympathetic to the governing coalition. All this contributed to accelerating the brain drain from Sri Lankan universities, both of the established scholars, as well as young and promising ones" [37]. Complicating matters further, the Ministry of Education during this time also instituted a new change in university admissions policy, a shift away from admitting students on the basis of merit to one of ethnic quotas and regional-preferences. While the shift was ostensibly designed to benefit underprivileged Sinhalese in rural areas of the country, the affect was to alienate talented Tamil youth by depriving them of a university education. de Silva underscores a view now widely held by many in hindsight that "[f]ew issues have contributed more substantially and dramatically to the sharp deterioration of ethnic relations in Sri Lanka in the last two decades, or to radicalizing the Tamil areas of the north and east of the island, than the question of university admissions...”[37]. Here we clearly see how politics implemented at the university level helped to generate a social crisis with which successive generations of Sri Lankans are still desperately trying to cope.

de Silva's overview in Part 1 then moves on to review attempts made to restore university autonomy in 1978 after a change of government that involved the creation of a Ministry of Higher Education and the formation of a University Grants Commission, both of which also presided over a rapid expansion of the university system and postgraduate teaching and research, by means of establishing new university campuses and technical institutes. He then describes the complicated dynamics giving rise to student agitations beginning in 1982 and continuing through 1990, the latter phase of which constituted a genuine national crisis of tragic magnitude. It is within this context that the second form campus politicization surfaces with a vehemence. Readers interested primarily in the issue of the politicization of education in Sri Lanka can turn, at this point in the narrative, to the detailed description of G H Peiris’s Part III, "The Campus Community at Peradeniya," which contains a riveting detailed account of the issues and incidents that have plagued the university during these recent very troubled times.

Peiris's account is perhaps the most intimate of all the essays written in this volume, insightful and sensitive in its caricature of faculty and student life in various periods of university history. It begins with a description of "normal times," thus painting an almost pastoral scene of a topographically beautiful campus wherein students are mild mannered, call each other machang, akka, or malli, engage in group singing, and commit various acts of "indiscipline" for which no one may take great offense, etc., but proceeds then to closely examine selected episodes of very serious trouble at the university, particularly in the late 1980s. Peiris is understanding and sensitive to the plight of the undergraduate in a variety of ways. He notes how the "housing crunch" occasioned by massive increases in student admissions and the university's concommitant inability to provide decent food at a reasonable price produced a situation in which "the young scholar's lot at Peradeniya had, indeed, [by the mid-1960s] become one of unmitigated deprivation and squalor" [191]. He further points out in this context that "[t]he psychological effects of the hardships which the students undergo are also probably very important. To speculate on these, many students develop attitudes of resentment and feelings of antipathy towards those in authority. Even architectural refinements in the university can be seen by them as extravagance and waste. For what use are the ornate dining halls if no dinner is served? And why the wall-tiles and the marble flooring, if the lavatories stink to high heaven?...” [193]. In a particularly compelling passage, he describes how students who have weathered the intensive pre-university struggle for admission with a great sense of achievement and with high hopes of climbing the ladder of social mobility toward a lucrative career in the professions face a massive dose of cognitive dissonance on their arrivals: “After arrival at the university, the trauma of the 'rag' also somehow overcome, the undergraduate soon finds that campus life is far less glamorous than that portrayed in Sinhala films, 'teledramas' and pop songs. The food is bad, the accomodation is worse, the daily life is monotonous, and money is always in short supply. Unlike in school, here, one can never be a 'prefect' or a 'teacher's pet.' The academic programmes though more demanding than at school are also, often, less attractive. The lecturers - not the popular ones who dictate notes at a slow pace - make the absurd demand that you read English books and articles. If you happen to be in a faculty where teaching is done only in English, more often than not, you are totally bewildered, and angry at the fact that the few who know the language are forging ahead. Then come the annual examinations at which, in certain faculties, the failure rate is as high as 50 per cent. For many, failure at the examination can be the final confirmation of the suspicion that had been there all along - that discrimination is part and parcel of the existing order of things" [195]. Peiris's point here is not to sentimentalize the plight of the university student. Rather, what he is pointing to is how conditions of student life are causally connected and linked to wider social problems and perceptions within Sri Lankan society-at-large and how easily students might become politicized when inspired, especially when egged on by outside agitation, to see the university as a representative of that system, and certainly as an arm of the state. In the remaining course of his essay, after he provides analytic descriptions of faculty and administrative life on campus, he proceeds to examine Peradeniya in times of trouble: first the 1953 hartal [207-210], the student "storm troopers” of 1962 who harrassed Dudley Senanayake who later, in 1965, became the country's Prime Minister [210-212], the student-army clash of 1969 when army troops where ill-advisedly billeted on campus [212-219], and finally, the tragic crisis of 1988-89, when JVP inspired students sought to control virtually every aspect of the university's functioning, a microcosm of the movement's attempt to topple the goverranent, and, in similar microcosmic fashion, met with a crushing and brutal military defeat in which nearly 200 Peradeniya students were arrested/abducted, of which 81 were still missing or unaccounted for as of December, 1991 [219-233]. Peiris's essay ends on an unostentatious prescriptive and speculative note by suggesting that student unrest and susceptibility to radical politicization might be ameliorated by facing some of the very real and difficult conditions that university students face in their academic and day to day struggles. In conclusion, what he suggests is that while "it is not possible to keep politics out of the university, [w]hat seems possible and desirable is to keep the decision-making processes of the university free of political prejudice and bias" [234].
Parts 1 and III then, in complementary fashion, form a powerful, if not an altogether depressing narrative of the history of the university in relation to the political life of the country. de Silva links the fortunes of university education to the wider political developments involving successive governments and their Minsiters of Education, while Peiris presents a candid and compelling view of problems from inside the university community. Part III consists of a series of essays from an array of distinguished Sri Lankan academics focusing on portrayals of education in various faculties at the University of Peradeniya.
M Wijaya A P Jayatilaka addresses the establishment and development of agriculture and veterinary medicine by providing an effective overview of student intake, staff development and curriculum. Here, in light of the dominant issues raised in the book, it is very interesting to note that the old British-based examination system that pervades the university system in Sri Lanka has been abandoned and that a new course credit system was adopted in 1991, and that though "[t]he faculty has continued to offer training in all three language media... most students tend to cross over to the English stream by the final year and only about 10 per cent remain in the Sinhala or Tamil media" [83]. In terms of faculty research and employment of its graduates and inspite of teaching overloads endured by its faculty, this particular branch of the university seems to have negotiated the difficulties of the recent past in fairly good stead.
Asoka Ekanayake's treatment of dental education at Peradeniya is not only a retrospect on the history of dental education in Sri Lanka, but also emphasizes the need to strengthen the intellectual foundations of dentistry by means of a closer integration with medicine within the context of a multi-disciplinary approach to dental education. He notes the various pressures endured as a result of increased student intakes with concomitant cuts in funding, the problems arising for some students given the fact that the curriculum in dentistry has remained, for the most part, in English, a fact which Ekanayake also says has "probably played a significant role in sustaining high academic standards during a difficult period" [92]. While noting problems of a shortage of equipment, the absence of any planned investment in buildings, and "curriculum overcrowding," he asserts "[i]n the final analysis the quality of dental education in Sri Lanka is predicated on higher authorities adopting a responsible and rational approach when deciding on the intake of students for dental studies. The best efforts of dental teachers and all the curriculum reform imaginable will be vitiated if the annual intake is influenced by the need to make endless concessions to political demands rather than by the oral health needs of the country" [93].
N Tiruchelvam's essay on "The Faculty of Law at Peradeniya 1947-66 and at Colombo from 1966" is actually a very insightful critical appraisal of legal education, especially its style, since its inception Sri Lanka in 1833. While not rich in institutional history, Tiruchelvam's essay is a wonderful caricature of the evolution of legal education in Sri Lanka from the apprentice system developed in the 19th century through the manner in which law is now taught in Colombo. What comes through consistently is the nature of the ethos of legal education. For instance, in describing the nature of education before the establishment of a faculty at Peradeniya, he writes: "The technique of teaching was unfailingly the magisterial lecture which was hastily delivered by a young practitioner impatient to return to his briefs and his clients. There was rarely any discussion within the classroom, and the lecture hour was almost exclusively devoted to the dictation of a note. As a leading lawyer once observed, 'the only difference between a lecturer and a student in law was that the former wrote his notes at home, while the latter writes it in the lecture hall' [100]. Tiruchelvam goes on to describe how the system devolved to the point where, given the nature of the examination system, the study of cyclostyled notes became the norm and that students reacted negatively to any innovations in the system, such as the case method. When the faculty of law was established at Peradeniya, an effort was made to follow the "Oxbridge” system wherein lectures were devoted to the articulation of legal principles while students were encouraged to discover their applications by reading case law. Such a system seems to have initially proved successful. But by the second decade, we find this description of talented faculty: "They were intelligent and articulate and had the self-assuredness of their elite social backgrounds. They had obtained their postgraduate qualifications at Oxbridge, and occupied a prominent slot in the social and intellectual hierarchy. They were the new mandarins of the legal community. Some of them enjoyed direct access to important policy makers and endeavoured through their public pronouncements and private advice to influence national policy on constitutional and legal issues. Despite the high intellectual calibre of the faculty during this decade, the law students derived little from them. Although some of them evinced interest in improving the standards of legal education, they made little positive contribution towards this endeavor. The reason for this was the aggressive pursuit of their personal careers, and the consequential down-grading of all other activities which were unrelated to this pursuit" [102]. Noting this talented but self-serving faculty, Tiruchelvam goes on to chronicle the sad infighting and intrigue among faculty factions of the third Peradeniya decade that poisoned the atmosphere of the faculty and consequently led to a steady exodus of teachers. There is no doubt that the self-serving interests of the faculty was the primary interest in moving the faculty of law to Colombo so that practice at the high courts would become more convenient. At this time as well, Tiruchelvam notes how Sinhala and Tamil medium students were handicapped by the non-availability of textbooks and other library resources leading to an excessive dependence on note-taking in hopes of passing exams. Other sections of his essay are concerned with the failure to develop an indigenous legal literature responsive to the developmental needs of the country until very recently as the general principles of Roman-Dutch law begin to be replaced by statutory law. The final section of the essay is concerned with problems encountered with the increasing numbers of students registering for external examinations in law.
In some ways, the two essays by G H Peiris and K N O Dharmadasa, which focus on the faculty of arts and the Peradeniya contribution to literature, theater and the arts, document the sociocultural heart of the university's history. Peiris points out that following independence, faculty on the arts were largely concerned with the "rediscovery of Sri Lanka," that the curriculum was so weighted in that direction that it was not uncommon for arts graduates to assume careers as "philosopy policeman," "Sanskrit land administrators," "classics tax assessors" or "Pali revenue officers" [112]; thus producing in the eyes of many "an acceptable blend between the 'intellectual' and the 'utilitarian' functions of higher education” [113]. But times changed with the increased influx of students, the policy of swabasha, the termination of external academic links abroad, and the glut of arts graduates entering into an economy unable to absorb them. Eventually, this situation led to recommendations made by the so-called "Jayaratne Committee Report” in 1971 which declared, in anticipation of the centralization and "political takeover" of the universities in 1972 that: "Out-dated administrative and educational structures have to be radically altered if we are to proceed towards our avowed goal of socialism." [116]. The halcyon days of the faculty of arts were over by this point. Peiris notes the consequences of the ensuing down-grading of the arts: its deleterious affect on postgraduate studies, the acceleration of the continuing brain drain away from the arts, and a deterioration in faculty research and quality of teaching faculty. The remainder of his essay lays out the current structure of undergraduate and graduate programmes in the faculty of arts, and a prescription for improving their quality.
Dharmadasa's chapter is perhaps the most uplifting of any within this volume, although it too ends on note of decline. What he succeeds in characterizing very well is the effervescent atmosphere that existed earlier on in the university's history, even through the 1960s, when faculty in the arts established a veritable school of creativity through the literary efforts of such figures as Malalasekera, Ludowyke, Sarachchandra, Gunasinghe and Vithianandan in Pali, English, Sinhala and Tamil. Corresponding to what Peiris refers to in his chapter as the "rediscovery of Sri Lanka," Dharrnadasa notes the general trend of these scholars, especially epitomized by Sarachchandra, "to shed the vestiges of western culture and [to embrace] an eagerness to identify with oriental, if not Sinhala, cultural roots" [133]. Dharmadasa is particularly adroit in noting how this development mirrored the larger cultural forces at work during this time in Sri Lanka by noting the impact of such figures as Martin Wickramasinghe and Anagarika Dharmapala. In particular, he spotlights the manner in which Sarachchandra's dramas and novels influenced others. Especially important in this context is how Sarachchandra was able to revive interest in Sinhala folk culture. Noting that the impact of this enthusaism for indigenous culture was just as significant for Tamils, Dharmadasa describes the creativity of scholars such as Kanapathipillai, Vithianandan and Chelvanayagam who were directly involved in the enrichment of Tamil literary culture, somehow freed from the constraints suffered by colleagues in Tamilnadu whose academic traditions tended towards classicism and linguistic purism. By this point in the volume, a familiar pattern once again emerges. By the 1970s, Dharmadasa asserts, "changes were taking place in the political situation of the country no less than in society and economy; these changes were to affect the university adversely... The so-called 'universitry reorganization' of the early seventies, designed as a counter to radical political activism by students, dealt the final decisive blow to the cultural activities that had been taking place so far. The reorganization relegated the humanities, the area from which most of artistic talent had emerged, to an inferior position of `soft options’.... Not only had the tone of university life changed in response to economic and political changes in the larger society, but also the authorities governing the universities appeared less than concerned about the enrichment of cultural life in the campuses" [142].
S A Kulasooriya's chapter on the faculty of science outlines the difficulties encountered by the increased intake of students, many of who, bereft of intellectual inquisitiveness, also lack the requisite skills derived from laboratory experience which should be acquired in pre-universitry science education ["a]science student without a laboratory orientation is like a vehicle without wheels" [151], and who also suffer from a deficiency in English. Kulasooriya provides graphic descriptions of the current plight: "Not more than five per cent of the students have read any library books during their first year. The few who have done so used the library to read only a couple of textbooks recommended by the teachers. Thus, the investment on libraries seems wasted as the students have no inclination to read books and journals there... It is also a common observation that students now use libraries as a quiet place to study their notes, with scant regard to the vast volumes of knowledge that surround them" [152]. Kulasooriya blames this condition not so much on the lack of English proficiency, but on the distortions in learning techniques encouraged by GCE Advanced Level "tuition classes" which actually inhibit the reading habit. Inspite of this gloomy picture, Kulasooriya finds some reason for hope in indications that younger faculty have the great potential to bolster a center of excellence in scientific research at Peradeniya. He advocates a "harmonious interaction between the private sector and the seats of higher learning" [155] to promote scientific inquiry in such areas as molecular biology, plant tissue culture, biofertilizer, efficient use of renewable sources of energy, all of which could produce a very positive affect on production technologies.
D L O Mendis's chapter on the faculty of engineering is predominantly historical in nature and highlights the political and economic difficulties encountered by Professor E O E Pereira in establishing the school at Peradeniya, planned originally for 1952 but not actually accomplished until 1964. Mendis's short piece then decries the problems that ensued due to the issue of swabasha, the lack of support for library acquisitions, and the absence of experimental work required by students taking the Advanced Level examinations. By this point in the collection of essays, the general problems are not only very clearly drawn, but getting somewhat worn.
Part II concludes with the chapter by S N Arseculeratne on the faculty of medicine and is aimed at identifying "the extent to which the faculty has fulfilled the expectations of those involved in its establishment, assessing its contribution to medical education in Sri Lanka both in relation to the health manpower requirements of the country and to the ideals of university education" [166]. While Arseculeratne notes many of the same problems (language, pre-university education, increased student intake, student selection, etc.) encountered by his colleagues in science, dentistry, engineering, and agriculture, he does so in an extremely illuminating manner. And given the great responsibilities assumed by those entering the medical profession, the consequences of these problems seem even graver than in the other already cited contexts. What is new in this chapter is that Arseculeratne is ever mindful of what a university education for medical students should entail: the development of methods that promote "logical, critical and original thinking as essential routes to sound clinical judgement, and ... the inculcation of the spirit of scientific inquiry in the search for solutions to health needs" [174]. Arseculeratne finds that the faculty has not been very successful in this regard, except is very few instances. Beyond this, he suggests that the curriculum in medicine exists in a kind of vacuum and points to a need for the teaching of medical ethics. "[I]n the context of the fact that the system of education in Sri Lanka does not provide the medical student with any formal exposure to knowledge outside the confines of the biological sciences after their eleventh year at school, there is a strong case for attempts to be made through the faculty's curriculum to familiarize students with the philosophical and religious concepts that have a bearing on ethical and moral values, and with the economic, social and legal context in which they as doctors will serve" [177]. Arseculeratne then takes up the issue of faculty research and finds the faculty's efforts largely deficient in leading to significant advances in medical science. This is seen as a consequence of excessively heavy teaching loads, "the scarcity of resources for research and the highly restricted opportunities available for staff for interaction with researchers outside the country" [179]. Finally, the issue of curriculum changes in light of national health needs are addressed. In this context, enhancing awareness about elements of traditional methods of health care, adding courses of training for paramedical personnel, and improving the training of general practitioners are among several of the recommendations advanced.
Having studied a view of the history and academic structures of the University of Peradeniya, noting in particular the problems that have become endemic to its present course, it makes sense that Part IV, the next section of this volume, would be entitled "University Governance." After all, with the picture of problems painted so colorfully by so many with talented brushes, one wants to know precisely who or what offices, beyond vague references to "the government," have been responsible for bringing the current situation about? Here, K M de Silva provides an essay containing a clear history of who has been in charge and when. It begins with an account of how Sir Ivor Jennings, a distinguished academic, enjoyed close relations with those to whom political power had been transferred or won, and was able to establish a tradition of liberal governance in which appropriate university bodies were consulted, and the highest academic standards demanded. de Silva notes that it took a decade to erode what Jennings had originally established and that the new structure of governance put into place in 1966, advocated by Ananda Guruge, was modelled on U.S. state university systems because "that system gave the state a measure of direct control over the working of the university system..." [242]. In an earlier portion of this review, it was noted that the period from 1972 until 1978 under Badi-ud-din Mahmud's control saw the complete erosion of university autonomy and followed by attempts to restore autonomy from 1978-88. In this section, de Silva fills in the many details of those years by outlining the many administrative changes that came into effect, chiefly the establishment of a University Grants Commission (UGC) and the reforms and expanded programs that the UGC intoduced. He also notes the establishment and role of the newly (1978) created Ministry of Higher Education and its relation to the UGC. Beyond this he describes the changes introduced by new legislation in 1985 which increased the membership of the UGC, changed procedures in the appointments of Vice-Chancellors, made provisions for the establishment of degree granting institutes, and the establishment of student relations councils. Further amendments to the 1985 changes came in 1988 and were directly the result of attempts to deal with a controversey brewing over the private North Colombo Medical College, (NCMC) which sought to have its students sit for the University of Colombo medical examination, a proposal that spawned a storm of protest from many medical faculty and students not only at Colombo but at Peradeniya as well. Into this situation, amidst tremendous confusion at the political level over who was in charge, given the appointment of a State Minister of Higher Education, A C S Hameed, in addition to the nominal Minister of Education and Higher Education, followed a policy of appeasement and so the NCMC was brought under state control. Hameed proceeded to establish his office within the UGC's main administrative complex which "resulted inevitably in a greater degree of political influence in the formulation and implementation of higher education policy than at any time since 1978-79" [253]. The situation remained, unfortunately, the status quo until June of 1993. de Silva also describes how Hameed's attempts to appease JVP inspired students and their leaders had disastrous consequences for the university system as a whole. In Hameed, we see a politician with no first hand higher education experience playing politics with the educational system.
W M A Wijeratna Banda, the former secretary to the University Grants Commission, then follows with an essay that discerns a number of reasons why university autonomy was eroded. In the first instance, he points out that since "Sri Lanka's universities are almost exclusively dependent on government grants.... [they] have no option but to permit the piper to call the tune. The mismanagement of universities was another major factor which resulted in the erosion of autonomy. Successive commissions of inquiry have highlighted numerous instances of gross abuse of power, financial and other malpractices, wastage of public funds, irregular appointments, promotions and dismissals among others" [257-258]. He further points out that student violence within a context in which university authorities were unable to handle situations adequately also led to calls for state intervention. Finally, "attempts on the part of academics to use political influence through connections with the government in power to secure appointments and promotions, or to prevent others from getting such appointments and promotions" [259] created a lack of confidence in the university's abilities to run its own houses fairly. In Wijeratna Banda, we find the voice of a professional administrator fully knowledgeable about the mechanics of governance. We also hear that the conduct of academics acting politically, and not just politicians meddling in academics, is a part of the current problem of politicization. Recounting again the history of centralization and bureaucratization, political interference, and attempts to restore autonomy, Wijeratna Banda concludes with this: "Concepts of autonomy keep changing, but the essence of it lies in a recognition of respect for the freedom of academics to teach and conduct research without fear of political control, and to be assured that appointments and promotions - theirs as well as those of others in the university system - are similarly free of political interference. Ultimately, universities will best ensure the recognition and protection of their autonomy by putting their own houses in order" [264].
In the penultimate essay of Part IV, B L Panditharatna offers his personal reflections regarding the tremendous pressures and wide variety of issues with which a Vice-Chancellor must cope. He proceeds to give an account of the adminstrative strategies he deployed during his years as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya from 1978 to 1984, a long reign by any standard since 1966. He likens the position Vice-Chancellor to being a Mayor of a sizeable township of approximately 15,000 to 18,000 people who must expect to work 24 hour shifts, his phone the first to ring whenever the utilities break down or when students clash. From his personal reflections, we gain a glimpse of the complexities and demands placed on the person who inhabits the Vice-Chancellorship and the types of almost unsolvable dilemmas to be faced.
Wijeratna Banda then contributes his second chapter of the volume on the work of university registrars and the role of the secretary of the UGC. He outlines the duties of the registrar, duties that have changed little during the past fifty years and which are concerned with the keeping of university accounts, student affairs (admission, registration, records and welfare), examinations, the annual review, recruitment and personnel management of academic and nonacademic staff, general administration, overseeing university publications, etc. In his account of the secretary of the UGC, we learn that the duties are essentially similar to that of a university registrar, except that the position is responsible to the entire system. The final sections of the chapter are concerned with the types of problems encountered in both positions, not the least of which is the result of rampant political interference in day to day affairs. In conclusion, he advocates a more decentralized administrative organizational structure of universities.
Part V is the seven page conclusion offered by K M de Silva in which he notes that while it is evident that while the university's "record falls short of what could have been expected and what was expected... in one area... the universities of Sri Lanka [have] made a satisfactory contribution, 'as agents of social mobility’” [289]. In other words, the universities can hardly be said to have been havens for the social elite. de Silva notes how tertiary education in Sri Lanka has expanded rapidly over the years and notes the mounting pressure to continue with expansion. In particular he argues that the country needs to pay continuous attention to expanding and insuring the quality of technical education, not only to meet the needs of an expanding population and growing economy, but also to take the intense pressure off the universities. With regard to the universities specifically, he argues that it is time to hand back autonomy to the universities, especially "or the state to hand over admissions policy, to depoliticize the whole system and to make merit and merit alone the criterion for admission to the universities" [292]. After reviewing what other countries spend on education, he recommends increased spending on new equipment for laboratories, new facilities for staff and students, and modernization of the libraries of the university. He points out that currently, students must wait at least eighteen months between the time that they take their GCE Advanced Level exams and when they gain entrance to the university. He proposes that either the system be reorganized by handing back admissions to the universities who could cut down the lag time to six months, or that pre-university courses at specified secondary schools be instituted which "could serve the dual purpose of either giving them entry to a university of their choice, or for employment as trainee teachers, or in the lower grades of administrative service or to technical grades" [294]. He also proposes a new system of interdisciplinary studies as well as a compulsory humanities and social science requirement for science-based students. Above all, he recommends a much greater emphasis on postgraduate studies. Finally, he notes that within the next five to ten years, the last of the faculty with excellent postgraduate degrees from British universities will have retired thus leaving a gap which cannot be easily filled. The arts, humanities and engineering especially, will be the most affected. The book concludes with this: "[f]resh recruitment, of top quality teachers in these fields is absolutely essential if university education in Sri Lanka is to perform at any acceptable level of competence. Better salaries are only a part of the answer, equally important, better working conditions, and the freedom from bureaucratic restrainst that their counterparts in the developed world enjoy and take for granted" [295].
This, then, is a book of history. But it is not merely descriptive aimed solely at finding what happened?" It is also a book written by some of the most eminent educators in Sri Lanka whose aim is to provide suggestions, from the most practical to the theoretical. As an outsider with a periodic association to the University of Peradeniya over almost twenty years, I learned a great deal of substance from these essays, and I also came to appreciate the tremendous complexities of university education in Sri Lanka. Given the fundamental role that politicians and the government play in determining the directions that education takes in Sri Lanka, I often found myself, in reading through these essays, hoping that these educators will be given a sympathetic ear. It is clear that the nature and future of the quality of education in Sri Lanka is at stake.