President Ranil Wickramasinghe said that after the successful completion of the domestic debt restructuring program and stabilization of the country’s economy by the month of September, the government will be able to consider the financial concessions and privileges that the university lecturers are looking for.
The President said this during a discussion with the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday afternoon.
Academic staff representatives from all state universities participated in this meeting, and many topics were discussed at length including the problems faced by lecturers, possible solutions for these problems and how to maintain the university system in the current economic recession.
The President also instructed the authorities to submit a cabinet paper regarding filling the necessary vacancies in the university system. The university lecturers emphasized that the existing educational facilities are not sufficient compared to the number of students admitted to the universities annually.
The president also directed to focus on improving the facilities of the university system while maintaining the existing financial allocation limits and to pay more attention to the development of the facilities of the faculties of medicine, engineering and science.
The President further advised the authorities to consult with the Attorney General and reach a decision on the possibility of re-granting the research allowance of the currently suspended university lecturers.