External degrees are worthless says Minister S.B. Dissanayke
The Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake said that the external degrees awarded by Sri Lankan universities were worthless certificates that would not benefit its holder or the country in any manner. Addressing a gathering at the inaugural ceremony of the Open and Distant Education Centre affiliated to the Aesthetic University, he said external degrees had recognition during election campaigns when political appointment were made.
The minister also said: “Most of the graduates recruited to government service through the graduate training scheme in 1970 retired after stagnating in their posts. Students of today should not depend on government service and suffer a similar predicament. Many individuals prefer government service to senior positions in the private sector jobs carrying higher perks. This is a bad practice. The UNP introduced the ‘Yali Pubudemu’ reawakening programme to reduce the number of public servants from 800,000 to 400,000 in three years.
However the strength of the public service has increased to 1.4 million under the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. An efficient public service is an integral part of development. The inefficiency of public service has resulted in the collapse of socialist countries and compelled communist countries to switch to free economy systems.
Students should pursue their studies with a target in mind. A scheme is underway to award a BA degree in English Honours and Tamil Honours and to conduct degree courses in information technology and engineering at the Aesthetic University soon. It is also hoped to award a degree in nursing despite protests by the Medical Association.
The external degree is valid only in the teaching profession. While vast new fields are open to others who join the agricultural sector, the clerical service, and the administrative service, those who hold external degrees have nowhere to turn. Expatriate workers including engineers, administrative officers, doctors and even professors are employed in the private sector. The government servants in the US comprise just eight per cent of the entire work force. In England it is three per cent and in Singapore just one per cent.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Nandimitra Ekanayake, Minister of Labour Gamini Lokuge, and Vice Chancellor of the Aesthetic University, Jayasena Kottegoda were present at the occasion.
Courtesy: DM Online
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O Dear Minister ,you have disturbed a hornets’ nest!
This buffoon is wrecking the lives of persons who hold external degrees. The external degrees are granted, I believe, by institutions such as the Open University.
External degrees are offerred using a range of delivery techniques including online and learn-from-home methods. The delivery process is extremely environmentally and socially friendly.
If GOSL jettisons external degress following the diktats of the buffoon sitting on the Education Ministers chair, people can turn to external degrees being offerred by MIT, Stanford, George Washington etc.
O Dear Minister,you have disturbed a hornets’ nest.!
I remember the former US president George W Bush had a smirk on his face that had a very striking resemblance to a chimpanzee. The German press went out their eay to draw comparisons when the Iraq invasion was in full swing, with round the clock bombardment. But then again, chimpanzees should not stand insulted by being compared with the likes of George Dubya Bush. Wild animals are very innocent and deserve our respect, as they do not harm their own kind, nor do they destroy other people’s lives.
SBD is utterly stupid to knock external degrees, granted through Open Universities and Distant Learning Centres, as of little value. The amazing thing is he said this as the chief guest at the opening ceremony of such an Open University! He should have been praising the value and the role of OUs/Distance Learning Centres in todays society, in providing good tertiary education and valid degrees, which are established and recognised all over the developed world.
OUs are specially useful for mature students who had been unable to achieve tertiary education in their youth, for one reason or another. It also helps people to study in their own pace and time while earning a living. It is a cheaper, easier option for many people, who were denied a place in State Universities. Once he/she is qualified with a degree through a conventional uni or through Open Uni, he/she can then aspire for a job with better prospects. This is personal development.
How crass of SBD to knock this opportunity for people to achieve higher learning through alternative means! A country is enriched by having educated citizens to help develop the country. One wonders now whether SBD is the right man for the post of Minister of Higher Education, if he fails to value the role of OUs and Distance Learning. May be he is tired of his ministerial post or is in need of higher education himself, instead of Honorary Degree.