Decay of State university system

THE alarming rot in the island’s State university system came into light with the revelation of the details regarding the clash between two batches at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Ruhuna last week.

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Quite amusingly, the two groups had physically fought with each other due to a disagreement over the score of a cricket match they had played. Following the quarrel, a group of undergraduates were arrested and were remanded until 28 October.

It is quite strange that educated and learned people like university students could get into physical confrontations on pretty trivial matters like a score of a cricket match, which was perhaps played for enjoyment, and such developments represent worrying signs for the country’s future apart from highlighting the degeneration of the country’s youth. Universities worldwide are associated with enriched academic and intellectual discourses while also functioning as centres of research and knowledge creation. The institutions of higher education also foster critical thinking, debate, and the development of new ideas among diverse students.