Shouldn’t we treat all members of our society with fairness by offering them, irrespective of their economic and social background, equal opportunity for an education, they can achieve according to their talents and abilities?

I reply:

Interesting question. Yes we should. I have already said 100% of the population should be given primary education completely free of charge irrespective of their economic and social backgrounds.

Well, it’s my fault, I should have defined what I meant by ‘primary education’ What I meant was not just the education what you get from Grade 1-10 under the current ‘pin model’ but the basic education one needs to attend the day to day chores of life and to get a reasonable job. I am sure even with today’s Grade 10 education one can get a fairly reasonable job. These jobs don’t pay the salaries of company directors, but people can live without other’s help with that level of education.

As I explained repeatedly, the sole reason why we cannot extend this model is that WE DO NOT HAVE MONEY. (NOT that we do not have hearts) Even the current system can provide university education only to 2% of each batch. Finding money to given a decent education even to 2% is a problem for the country. (Many state universities run with less than even the bare minimum of staff and facilities. This why these institutions produce half-baked graduates.)

So can someone tell me how can we find the huge amount of money to provide the ‘free’ education to all those deserving 98% of the population?

I am waiting for an answer…

If you cannot answer this question there is no point taking this dialogue forward because you talk about a solution in the air.

And please note, it does not make a different to rich whether we do not open a private university here or not. Bangalore is only Rs. 14,000 away and New Delhi is only Rs. 20,000 away. They will simply go to India and get their degrees. (Whether you like it or not!) Or they will sit for CIMA or CIM and easily find a job.

The opening of private universities (and private banks and private hospitals) will matter only to the economy at large. They are part and parcel of any developed economy and if we reject them that only means we want to remain an underdeveloped economy forever.

When you think please use your head. The problem of Sri Lankans (specially the younger generation) is they think with their hearts, and not heads. Shouting attractive slogans is easy, but facing the reality is not that easy.

Anyway, here are my answers to the questions posed by Morquendi:

1. What will happen to the State run universities if private universities are opened up? Will spending on them be increased?

Yes – that is if you wish so. All private entities pay corporate tax. If the government wishes so, this can be used either to further expand the State university system as it is (Though I do not advocate it. It will be more like repairing a bullock cart. Why buy a bullock cart when you need a car?) Further the opening up the private universities in Sri Lanka will stop the majority of students going out of the country. The foreign exchange thus served can be used for the same purpose.

This is the beauty of the capitalism. It looks so anti-poor on the face of it, but that is the best pro-poor system the humans have ever invented. (If this is not clear to you, please refer an economic text book, before answering)

2. What will be the criteria for granting ‘loans’ for students? Will everyone have access to them? Even a student who has nothing to show as collateral?

Yes. The only criteria will be whether the student follows a course, which will enable him to get a job in future or not. Please refer the current scheme Sampath Bank offers for the needy students to follow courses in software engineering. Something similar can be arranged – but only if the education given to students adds some value to economy.

3. What can you do to ensure that the teaching talent is equally distributed among the private and state universities? And that all the good teachers do not shift to the private universities?

This question arises because you think only within the mere limits of this country. Whether you like or not, 90% of the good Sri Lankan lecturers even now teach at universities abroad. The state universities only have 10% of the good lecturers (and lots of idiots, who cannot get a job elsewhere) So the question is whether the state universities lose these 10%? The answer is no.

Why? If the private universities pay well, (i) Many good Sri Lankan lecturers who work abroad now may come back (ii) there will be many lecturers coming from India and other countries too if the prospects are good.

Think about the private hospitals. The introduction of the private universities did not result in mass exodus of doctors from the state sector. When they don’t have doctors here, Apollo hospital brought lecturers from India.

Similarly, private banks and state banks operate side by side for the last two decades. Have the private banks taken good staff out the state banks?

So why do you think a mass exodus will happen only in case of the universities?

4. Would you also like to comment on the state of private and public healthcare in Sri Lanka and what the involvement of private players in the healthcare sector has done?

The private players in the health sector have already ensured:
q You do not have to go abroad if the state hospitals cannot offer any particular treatment. (So you save not only save your money but also country’s foreign exchange)
q The overall increase of quality in the health services (as now the state sector has competition they too have to maintain the same quality standards)
q There are alternatives when the idiots in the state sector involve in strikes at least once in a month. Otherwise so many patients have to die every time those selfish health workers go on strikes.
q Drastic reduction of the waiting lists to do operations like bypasses.
q And, finally those who like to pay extra for the facilities and those who can afford it, now have a choice!

Tell me one bad thing the private hospitals have done? You may say they charge heavily. So if they charge so much why cannot the poor go to state hospitals?

5. What kind of regulations do you think need to be put in place by the Government to control the activities of the private universities?

The private universities (and state universities too!) should be regulated on:
q The quality of the courses they offer
q The quality of the staff and facilities they have
q The quality of the student intake
q Any uncompetitive practices etc.

Basically the rest of the things will be taken care by the market.

6. Will private universities grant hostel facilities to out of Colombo students? Which is a major incentive? Or will they not provide hostels because they can get enough students from Colombo?

If there is a market they will do. Unlike the state sector in the private sector the things are decided by the market and certain things may or may not happen because of market conditions.

7. Will private universities be opened up in rural areas? At least anywhere other than Colombo, Kandy and Galle?

If there is a market they will do.

8. How can a student who has taken a big loan to pay for his education also pay for living in Colombo?

So if they don’t have money why cannot they go to state universities? Do you want private universities also to follow the same ‘pin’ model? (If someone does not want to go to HNB, he can always go to Peoples Bank or Bank of Ceylon. Same here.)

9. Will students who do not have a good command of English be taken into private universities and then coached in english? As the State Universities now do? Or do you have to already have a good command of English to get in?

Again, this will be decided by market conditions. If there is a market, private universities will definitely do so. There are so many IT institutions that run parallel classes in English.

10. Will private universities teach Pali and Sankrit literature? Will the teach Sinhala and Tamil literature? Will they teach Buddhist and Hindu Theology?

Again decided by the market conditions. If anyone will willing to pay to learn such courses they will introduce the same. I do not know about the other areas, but I am sure there will be a good demand for courses on Buddhism, from students from South East Asian countries. (Remember unlike state universities the private universities do not have to limit the student intake to Sri Lankans.)

(I wrote this without reading Indi’s responses to the same questions – to avoid any bias but after reading them I find there are overlaps in certain responses. They are pure coincidental.)

So Morquendi, what is your problem?

Do you have the same hatred for the private hospitals, private banks too? (I did not mention private busses, as the private busses do not operate in uncontrolled market)

And Morquendi please restrict yourself to the topic. It is only idiots who bring in personal matters in to discussions. And also please avoid calling me by names or using bad words when responding. Try to behave like a gentleman. I have not personally attacked you or bring your personal details into discussion so please avoid do the same for me.

It is very easy to call anyone who does not agree with you by any name you like or call him / her a World Bank agent. But these are not relevant, and if you follow the same course I can only assume you have run out of arguments. So please stick to the topic and please call me Chanuka, and not by any stupid names you coin. This is a humble request and will appreciate if you can honour it.