A University Grants Commission in a South Asian setting: The Sri Lankan experience

University education in Sri Lanka in modern times has a short history of just over six decades. From 1921 to 1959 there was one University College (1921–1942) or University on the island. With the establishment of two other universities in 1959, the need for co-ordination of higher education activity through a University Grants Commission (UGC) or similar body arose.The establishment of the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) in 1966 was part of a policy of bringing greater government influence to bear on universities and was therefore resented and resisted by the latter. However, the new body, while it lasted, served as a very effective buffer against undue government interference in university affairs. The six year period beginning in 1972 saw a process of centralization of university education under strong government control. The UGC established in 1979 has much the same powers as the NCHE, a wider range in fact than those enjoyed by the British UGC, and much greater influence in university education than the British prototype.Universities in Sri Lanka have always depended on the state for almost all their funds. While this has naturally given government much influence in shaping the structure and expansion of universities, the principle of university autonomy was strongly entrenched between 1942 and 1966. There was a departure from this in 1966, but more particularly between 1972 and 1978. The Universities Act. No. 16 of 1978 re-introduced the concept of autonomous universities. The one area in which state influence has been the predominant factor is university admissions and this influence began in the mid-1950s long before the concept of university autonomy came under systematic attack from the government's Ministry of Education.The author has been a member of the University Grants Commission since its establishment in 1979. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the University Grants Commission or the University of Peradeniya.