UNP asks govt. not to make muddle of KNDU

‘Answer lies in making people aware of genuine intentions of the government’

By Piyasena Dissanayake

The government should take on board the views of all stakeholders and solve the Kotelawala National Defence University crisis without making any decision detrimental to free education, UNP Chairman and former Minister Vajira Abeywardena said yesterday.

Addressing the media at the UNP office in Elpitiya, the former minister said that the Kotelawala Defence University had been functioning well for the past 25 to 30 years producing graduates without any major issue.

“There are some who blame the UNP and Ranil Wickremesinghe for attempting to privatise education but it was the UNP that did the utmost to develop free education. The KDU was set up to train and educate the officers for the war against the LTTE. When the need to further educate the officers arose, the then UNP government decided to send ten cadet officers each to the state universities. When Wickremesinghe was the Minister of Education we sent ten army, navy and air force officer trainees to each state university. But the JVP opposed it stating that those were the spies sent by the government to gather intelligence about JVP student leaders and their operations in the universities. Therefore, the then government decided to send all those officer trainees to a separate defence faculty.

“The KDU is now a full-fledged university. It should be upgraded as per the needs of the time and the government should do that. But there should be a proper way of doing that. The government should not make use of the KDU to promote private universities in the country, and it should allay the fears in the minds of people about this project. It should explain to people what its true intentions are. We do not think anyone would oppose the upgrading of the KDU if they are made aware of the genuine intentions of the government. The government has mismanaged the whole issue. It should speak to all stakeholders and explain its plans. The matter should be solved amicably through the means of negotiations without letting it snowball into a major crisis.”

Opposition Leader of the Galle Municipal Council Dilith Nishantha also addressed the media conference.