‘Rage Sri Lanka’ launches first anti-ragging help kit to strengthen safer learning

Rage, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to combating ragging and harassment in educational institutions, has produced a toolkit that’s aids university undergraduates who wish to obtain an education is an ant-ragging environment. Members of the Rage team pose for a photograph during the event  

• The Anti-Ragging Help Kit provided a comprehensive framework to support the prevention of ragging about their rights and available avenues for support
• Students affected by ragging will have access to clear information

Rage, a local non-profit organisation dedicated to combating ragging and harassment in educational institutions through legal support, education, and advocacy, officially launched an Anti-Ragging Help Kit last Monday (July 13).

The Anti-Ragging Help Kit is the first resource of its kind in Sri Lanka, providing a comprehensive framework to support the prevention of ragging while strengthening reporting mechanisms, institutional accountability and student safety. 

The creation of the resource involved the engagement of professionals from multiple disciplines. Those who engaged in this creation were economists, policymakers, lawyers and psychologists, according to a news release from the organisation.

Designed as both a policy framework and a practical public resource, the Help Kit serves a broad range of stakeholders committed to making Sri Lankan universities safer.

University administrators and faculty members will find guidance on institutional policies, reporting systems, and staff training. Students affected by ragging will have access to clear information about their rights and available avenues for support. Parents would find who they would be able to direct concerns to and what mechanisms exist to help their children. The Help Kit essentially simplifies existing laws and protocols making it easier for anyone to understand their rights, how the law works, and the practicalities of how the law can be implemented, thus providing the public with a road map in the fight against ragging, Rage said.

It has been shaped by the lived experiences of university students and draws on insights gathered through the Rage.lk perception survey on ragging, conducted in all three main local languages. Students shared experiences of witnessing and enduring ragging, challenges faced when reporting incidents, and stories of resilience.

Sri Lanka already possesses laws, research, and active civil society engagement to make ragging genuinely preventable. But a lack of institutional commitment has resulted in the ideal of making universities and other educational institutions ragging free, still not being a reality. The Anti-Ragging Help Kit seeks to bridge this gap by providing practical guidance that supports universities, the University Grants Commission, student leaders, policymakers, and civil society in building systems that consistently protect every student.

The toolkit was conceptualised and developed by volunteers and Chief Editors of the Help Kit, Chethana Ranatunga and Shaneendra Amarasinghe, who also wrote the resource along with Yasu-e Karunaratne and Nisali Perera. The Help Kit was edited by Taveesh Edussuriya and Haadiyah Marikar and was translated into Sinhala and Tamil by Krishan Shane Lappen and Keerthika Mahalingam respectively. It was further reviewed by the Deputy Solicitor General at the Attorney General’s Department Dr. Avanthi Perera, Prof. Prabha Manuratne, and Dr. Pramodi Nilvala Hewavitharana.

Rage Sri Lanka is a Sri Lankan non-profit organisation dedicated to combating ragging and harassment through legal support, education, advocacy, and public awareness. The organisation’s vision is to build learning environments across Sri Lanka where dignity, safety, equality, and freedom are protected, and where no student’s educational experience is shaped by fear. The team at Rage.lk can be contacted via their email address: [email protected], Instagram handle: @rage.lk, and Facebook page: Rage.lk