The action plan is for a three year period. Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne says the main objective of the plan is to create productive and job oriented graduates for the country.
The private universities have also been instructed to organize job oriented degree courses, he says. The Ministry has planned to provide necessary guidelines with regular supervision, he added.
The Secretary told the state radio SLBC that several more universities are to be setup in the island next year. Foreign students will also be given opportunities to follow degree courses in them. The aim of this programme is to gather more foreign exchange by selling educational opportunities.
Sri Lanka's outdated higher education system badly needs reforms to meet the demand, education experts point out. Only 16 percent of students passing the GCE Advanced Level national exam gains admission to the public universities.
The Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake who is leading the reforms to the dilapidated University education system says a large amount of money is being drawn out of the country as more and more students who do not get the opportunity for higher education locally are seeking university education abroad.
Supporting his decision to establish foreign universities in Sri Lanka, the Minister points out, that 57 private institutions already operating in the country are awarding foreign degrees.
The Minister says the new laws will bring these private institutions under a regulated framework for the first time.
However, the move is opposed by Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and student unions affiliated to the party.
Education experts point out that by not meeting the demand for higher education locally the country suffers from brain drain as the students who leave the country for higher education overseas prefer to live where they received education.
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