The process to appoint a Vice Chancellor to the University of Colombo has run into a storm with the university academics writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, conveying concern over the apparent politicization of the appointment process.
This has come in the wake of media reports that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) University Teachers' Union has approached powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaska, to seek his blessing for the candidacy of Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa for the post of Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo.
Dr. Mahanamahewa is presently the Dean of the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and is also a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL).
He is known for his strong defence of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration on its human rights record. Earlier, the former President of the SLFP University Teachers' Union and a close confidant of Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake, was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka.
Among the three candidates nominated by the University Council of the Colombo University for the post of Vice Chancellor are, Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama, husband of the current Chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Dr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa and Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, former Head of the Department of Demography and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, President of the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) told Ceylon Today the Colombo University academics in their letter to the President have raised 'strong concerns' about the developments related to the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo.
"In fact, most senior professors don't apply for those posts as it is useless to do so without political backing. It has become a norm that political appointees are favoured when it comes to these appointments," he charged.
Dr. Dewasiri said, FUTA would decide its course of action only after the appointment is finalized. "We do not want to rush into action. We have made our concerns known to the President. And we hope he will listen to our concerns." He said there is a conflict of interest involving the candidacy of Dr. Hirimburegama, while his spouse continues to serve as the Chairperson of the UGC, the authority that should recommend the most qualified candidate to the President, according to the Universities Act.
"In theory, the President should appoint the Vice Chancellor of a given university based on the recommendations made by the UGC, though, the President could reject all three nominations and send the names back to the Council, asking for fresh nominations," Dr. Dewasiri said.
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