Ranjan granted permission to follow online degree course at Open Uni from Welikada

By Norman Palihawadane

Commissioner General of Prisons, Thushara Upuldeniya, yesterday, said that former SJB MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who is serving a four-year sentence for Contempt of Court, has been granted permission to pursue his higher education, online from prison,

Upuldeniya said that detainee Ramanayake had requested permission to pursue his education and that the permission letter had been issued on the instructions of the Minister of Justice.

The Commissioner General said that Ramanayake would be allowed to attend the relevant external degree course lectures online from the Welikada Prison using a laptop and he could attend the lectures online in the presence of a prison rehabilitation officer.

Ramanayake would be allowed to receive textbooks, supplementary notes, etc. on the subject he would be studying from outside sources.

The Commissioner General of Prisons said that all that was being done under the close supervision of the prison officer.

Ramanayake has applied for an External Degree Course in Youth and Community Development Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and has passed the required Basic Certificate Course, Upuldeniya said.

Due to his imprisonment, Ramanayake was not able to attend the undergraduate course he was to pursue thereafter, and due to the Covid epidemic, the university temporarily suspended the course.

Ramanayake later renewed his registration for these courses at the OUSL on Dec 1, the University and has taken steps to restart the lectures.

Ramanayake, who had been detained at the Angunakolapelessa Prison, was transferred to the Welikada Prison Hospital to receive treatment for a knee injury from the Colombo National Hospital.

Since Angunakolapelessa Prison had no online facilities and due to the difficulties in delivering the textbooks issued by the OUSL for these courses to Ramanayake at the Angunakolapelessa Prison, a request has been made to provide him with higher education facilities at the Welikada Prison itself.

Upuldeniya said that Indika Bamunusinghe, an inmate of Welikada Prison who was serving a life sentence after being sentenced to death, was previously facilitated by the Department of Prisons to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Jayewardenepura and a Master’s degree from the University of Kelaniya.