Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo is using “Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act of 1998” to silence student dissent against arbitrary administrative action, says the Students for Human Rights.

Vice Chancellor Kumara Hirimburegama

Issuing a statement on the recent student suspension the Students for Human Rights said today; “This also brings into open, the real repressive quality of the laws and regulations governing the universities. Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act of 1998, was enacted to eliminate ragging within universities not to silence students dissent. There had been no reports of ragging at the protest, in fact even the parents of the first year students were present during the protest action. However, the content of the Act, which is claimed to have been enacted to protect new students from ragging, is used by the authorities to force a different form of ragging on the new students. Under Section 3 of the said act, intimidation of students, with the intention of causing fear in the victim or compelling the victim to do any act which the victim is not legally required to do, or to omit to do any act which the victim is entitled to do, is defined as an act punishable under the Act, which means such an qualifies as an act of ragging. Looking at the incidents unfolding in the University of Colombo it is none other than the VC who appears to be the biggest bully of them of all since he is using suspensions as tools of intimidation to create a fear within the student community to stand up against the hostel cuts and the dispossession of rights that they are entitled to.”

We publish below the statement in full;

20 students from Faculties of Arts,Law and Education of University of Colombo have been suspended by the Vice Chancellor Kumara Hirimburegama citing violations of the Conduct Code of the University and anti-ragging laws. These suspensions are the fresh additions to a series of suspensions issued by university administrations to silence student dissent against arbitrary administrative action.

The Hostel Problem

The reason for these 20 suspensions is a protest by the students of the three faculties against a hostel fee hike. The previous hostel fee of Rs.800 was increased unprecedentedly to Rs.3000 in spite of strong objections by the students. However as students persistently protested and objected the decision, the authorities including the Higher Education Minister, agreed to lower the hostel fees to its previous amount. Therefore it came as a shock to the students when the new students were asked to pay Rs.3000 as the hostel fee.

In universities of Jayawardanepura, Peradeniya and Kelaniya the hostel fee does not exceed a nominal sum of Rs.800. Hostel facilities are provided for the students at the cost of the state. A small sum of money is taken from students only as a nominal fee. However, University of Colombo is trying to change that policy and shift the burden of the hostel expenditure to the students by increasing the hostel fee to an unusual Rs.3000.

University administration has also failed to construct sufficient hostel facilities for students and most students are therefore compelled to travel from home, wasting a lot of money and time. Some students have to spend as many as five or six hours back and forth in getting to the university and getting back home. It is not realistic to expect high academic excellence from students when they are exhausted after long bus rides and train rides. Because the university fails to provide sufficient hostel facilities most students have to be boarded in the suburbs of Colombo. Inadequate hostel facilities therefore increase the cost of living of students, either through transport or accommodation. The meaning of free education is considerably compromised by this unfair, inequitable decision of the University of Colombo to maintain the university as a non-residential university. At the heart of a city, where cost of living increases every day, the decision shows the extreme insensitivity of the administration towards students’ problems.

Hostel facilities are reduced each year, and the limited number of students who actually get the facility are forced to pay a whopping fee of Rs.3000. This comes as another step of the state policy in adopting a market model with relation to education. University administration has started talking the language of a business establishment, instead of an educational institute purposed to provide free higher education for students.

Student Dissent 

As a result of the administration failing to keep its word on the hostel fee, the students of Faculties of Arts, Education and Law launched a protest action in front of the hostels in Nawinna and Ratmalana on the day of first year students’ registration to the hostels. The protest action managed to compel the authorities to register first year students without charging the fee, but the Faculties of Arts and Education were closed as a response to the successful student agitation. The 20 students were suspended by the administration with relation to that particular protest action.

The suspensions are in violation of the students’ right to freedom of expression and association that is guaranteed to every citizen under the Constitution. Students must have the right to voice their discontent and objection to the one sided, arbitrary decision by the administration. Students are directly affected by the decision of the administration but the decision was taken without any consultation with the students. If the university wants to promote higher values of democracy and equality, it must start with practicing them within the university. It is highly undemocratic of the authorities to reach arbitrary, unilateral decisions on matters which have direct consequences on the student population. A democratic administration should have paid enough attention to the objections expressed by student council with regards to the hostel fee hike.

This also brings into open, the real repressive quality of the laws and regulations governing the universities. Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act of 1998, was enacted to eliminate ragging within universities not to silence students dissent. There had been no reports of ragging at the protest, in fact even the parents of the first year students were present during the protest action. However, the content of the Act, which is claimed to have been enacted to protect new students from ragging, is used by the authorities to force a different form of ragging on the new students. Under Section 3 of the said act, intimidation of students, with the intention of causing fear in the victim or compelling the victim to do any act which the victim is not legally required to do, or to omit to do any act which the victim is entitled to do, is defined as an act punishable under the Act, which means such an qualifies as an act of ragging. Looking at the incidents unfolding in the University of Colombo it is none other than the VC who appears to be the biggest bully of them of all since he is using suspensions as tools of intimidation to create a fear within the student community to stand up against the hostel cuts and the dispossession of rights that they are entitled to.