Unregulated private degree institutions flourish amid oversight gaps

By Kelum Bandara

Hundreds of private institutions conduct degree programmes in Sri Lanka, unchecked by the University Grants Commission (UGC), leading to queries if these degrees will be recognised in other parts of the world as well as locally, an official said yesterday.

The UGC regulates the conduct of degree programmes by the state universities and 27 private degree-awarding institutions accredited by it.

However, there are numerous private organisations which have partnered with foreign universities and conduct degree programmes.

Asked about it, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa told the Daily Mirror that such a problem exists, and the UGC has been instructed to work out a mechanism to monitor them. He said it is not an easy task to monitor all these private organisations in the absence of a mechanism.

“There are private institutions which claim to be affiliated with foreign universities. Initially, there is some affiliation. But, no such affiliation is found later on, in some instances. When monitoring, we have to monitor the quality of academic programmes and teachers involved,” he said.

He said these organisations had been registered as private entities under the Companies Act.
Asked about the number of such entities, he said it could roughly be around 300.

In the past, successive governments tried to work out a legal framework to regulate non-state universities but shelved such attempts because of protests, mainly by the students’ bodies opposed to the privatisation of university education.