Sugath kulatunga.

A few days back the media reported that the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Paul Stephens revealed that the Australian government has put forward a new proposal to establish Sri Lanka as a key international education center. He had stated that by launching of Sri Lanka as an international educational center, the country will be able to attract a large number of foreign students from many neighbouring countries including India, Maldives, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh. We are not aware the role of Australia will play in this project. However, Sri Lanka is grateful to Australia for taking an initiative in this most welcome venture. The authorities here should feel ashamed for not initiating such a project for so many years in the past at least for the benefit of Sri Lankan students going abroad for education.
The dire need for international universities to be invited to the country had been keenly felt and discussed by policy makers for so many decades. It was December last year when this sensitive subject was discussed in Parliament that State Minister of Higher Education Dr.Raghavan said that nearly 11,000 Sri Lankan students go to foreign universities for studies every year. President Wickremasinghe claimed that US$ 3 billion goes out of Sri Lanka annually to other countries because Sri Lankan students go abroad for higher education. 
A leading entrepreneur Dhammika Perera estimated that at a given time there are over 100,000 of our students in foreign universities following higher studies. The President said that by setting up foreign university branches in Sri Lanka, the country could earn US$ 10 billion in foreign exchange annually by attracting international students. This would be in addition to saving valuable foreign exchange going out. Most opposition members hailed the Government’s plans to set up branches of foreign universities in Sri Lanka.
There seems to be two distinct issues under discussion which should receive different focus. The immediate problem is saving the funds remitted out of the country on higher studies abroad by Sri Lankan children. This involves not only the foreign exchange issue but also social issues. Some of these children are unlikely to return and serve the country. In Sri Lanka where families are closely knit separating a child from the family can create psychological problems for both parents and the children. Sending a child abroad for higher studies would cost the family a colossal cost which they can hardly bear. But the traditional high value given to education and the expected benefits drive the parents to make intolerable sacrifices. Neither the state minister nor the President gave any indication of the fields of higher studies that these children go abroad for. A reasonable guess is that the majority seek medical studies. The solution to that is to encourage private medical colleges. There should be some rethinking of the healthcare staffing. It has been suggested that the previous Assistant Medical Officers service be restored. The new cadre could be staffed with a Diploma level task related training given to graduates from the biology stream. A detailed article with links to relevant research appears on the website of LBN -at https://www.lankaweb.com/…/02/revamp-the-health-service/
The other issue of making Sri Lanka an education hub is a more ambitious but pragmatic proposal. Sri Lanka enjoys a number of competitive advantages such as a strategic location for travel, acceptable socio-cultural background, a conducive climate and ease of communication. The major advantage is that we should be able to compete on cost. The fact that while the per capita GDP is about 3500 USD its PPP value on an average has been around 8400 USD indicates that the Dollar goes a long way in Sri Lanka, and it is advantageous for foreign students to study in Sri Lanka.
Previous attempts to establish a private medical university in Colombo North was aborted due to political pressure. The opposition to the Nevil Fernando Teaching Hospital established in collaboration with Russia Friendship Teaching Hospital of Moscow Medical institution was from both the medical profession and bankrupt political parties.
Whatever the cost of foreign education estimated by the President is somewhat exaggerated (it cannot be as high as 20% of our export earnings),  the cost funds taken out of the country for education has been enormous. The sad situation is that this and allied cost advantages of establishing international universities in the country did not drive the Sri Lanka governments to make a positive decision on this crucial issue.
The pathetic excuse has been the opposition from extremist parties that it is a commercialization of Free Education. The truth is that politicians did not care as their children had access to foreign education.
Our policy makers should hide their faces in shame (if they have any sense of shame) that a foreign country had to initiate this laudable proposal.

It is hoped that our authorities have the cojones to implement it. 

Sugath kulatunga.