TERTIARY EDUCATION IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES

University education started in 1921 with the establishment of the Ceylon [Jniversity College located adjacent to Royal College, Colombo. This became the Unjversity of Ceylon in 1942. Since then there has been a rapid increase in the number of universities. At present there are twelve including the Open University. Teaching ofphysical sciences has generally kept pace with the needs of the country. Course content has changed and methods of teaching and evaluation have also undergone change. More emphasis on technical education and for research relevant to the development needs of the country is needed. There is also a need to provide more incentives in all research institutions for research, oriented towards the award of postgracluate degrees.


DEVELOPMENTS IN TERTIARY EDUCATION
Tertiary education in Sri Lanka at present is conducted mainly in Universj.tiesand other higher educational institutions such as technical colleges and academic professional colleges.Most of them are run by the government whi1.esome are privately owned.

Universities
In the nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth, there was no university in Sri L'vlka (then Ceylon).A few colleges, particularly Royal College, prepared students to sit examinations conducted by foreign universities such as Calcutta University and later University of London.Ceylon Medical College, established in 1870 made a very satisfactory contribution to the production of medical personnel.However even in this field, the well-to-do sent their children abroad.Agitation for the establishment of a university in Sri Lanlra started in the late nineteenth century and continued at the beginning of this century, spearheaded by such stalwarts as Ananda Coomaraswamy a n d S i r Ponnambalam Arunachalam.The government accepted in 1912, the recommendation of the Legislative Council to establish a university.However, I due to the outbreak of the first world war and the low priority given to the , issue, the Ceylon University College was established only in 1921, in Colombo.

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As the name implied, this College prepared students to sit external examinations, conducted by an outside university, the University of London However, the University College was considered only as a preliminary step in the establishment of a full-fledged university.A draf't constitution for a unitary and residential university had been drawn up and revised.There was a long drawn-out battle of sites, one group supporting Colombo and the other a site in Kandy.The latter finally won.With increasing numbers seeking admission to the university, the need for expansion of university fadties became unavoidable.Also there was a demand for teaching to be conducted in the local languages-Sinhalese and Tamil.Two universities were created in 1958.They were the Vidyodaya University of Ceylon and the Vidyalankara University of Ceylon which were subsequently named as Sri Jayewardenepura and Kelaniya University respectively.
With the increased demand for science based education, it was decided to retain the Faculty of Science in Colombo and start a new one at Peradeniya in 1961.The Medical faculty was similarly duplicated.The Engineering Faculty was shifted to new premises a t Peradeniya.With the Arts Faculty intake a t Peradeniya increasing to 1600 in 1961, the full residential requirement was abandoned, with about half the intake resident outside and attending Lectures.In 1963 a second unit of the Arts and Oriental Faculties was re-established in Colombo.From 1960 to 1965 Arts students intake had quadrupled.The Arts Faculty in Colombo was expanded by acquiring the Colombo Race Course.3000 were admitted without proper facilities.This led to a series of strikes during the following years.
A major change in the university system was the enactment of Higher Educa- After the insurgency of April 1971, the Universities came under direct control of the Ministry of Education.The University of Ceylon Act, No. 1 of 1972 created one university by making all the then existing universities its campuses.The single university had its headquarters a t the Senate House in Colombo.This re-organization was expected to be done during a period of transition of two years, but was extended by the Minister successively till 1st January 1979.Throughout this period from 1971 to the end of 1978 the Campuses were governed under transitional provisions.The Jaffna Campus was started i n 1974.
In 1977, a Ministry of Higher Education was created.A new Uiliversity Act No. 16 of 1978 established a University Grants Commission.and.adequately restored the autonomy of the universities which were recreated from the campuses of the single university established by the University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972.
I n addition t o t h e Universities of Colombo, Pcradeniya, S r i Jayewardenepura, Kelaniya, Moratuwa and J A a , two more regional universities were established in the eighties: the Eastern University near Batticaloa which started as a University College i n 1981 and University of Ruhuna a t Matara i n the South from the University College founded in 1978.An Open University conducting courses mainly by mail throughout the country was started in 1980.The Rajarata University at M h t a l e and the Sabaragamuwa University at Beljl~uloya were established in November 1995.The South Eastern University was created in 1996 based at Addalaichchenai.At present there are eleven regionally distributed u~liversities and one Open University in Sri Lanlra.
All universities excluding the University of Moratuwa and including the Open University have Faculties of Science (or applied science) and conduct undergraduate courses leading to the degree of B. Sc.Nearly all of these have departments of chemistry, mathematics, physics, botany and zoology.Colombo in addition has a department of statistics and computer science.I t also has a n Institute of Computer Technology and a Radio Isotope Centre.I t conducts post-graduate studies leading u p to M. Sc., M. Phil a n d P11.D.
Among the Universities with physical science based faculties, Peradeniya has in addition to that of science, a Faculty of Engineering also.This faculty also has a department of computer science.The Faculty of Science has a department of geology and a recently established department of molecular biology.These The Ra~arata University has a Faculty of applied sciences, a t two campuses (Wayamba a n d Polgolla).T h e Wayamba Campus h a s a d.epartrnent of industrial management and computer studies.
The Sabaragamuwa University has a Faculty ofApplied Sciences which co~lsists of two departments, one of natural resources and the other of' physical sciences.
The Open University since its creation in 1980 has developed rapidly.I t has three faculties of which.two are science based: the Faculty of Engineering Technology and the Faculty of Natural Science.The former has, apart froin other usual.departments, a depcartment of agricultural and plantation engineering a n d a d e p a r t m e n t of textile technology.The Faculty of N a t u r a l Science conducts studies up to Ph. D level.

University Admissions.
Students Sor universities (except the Open University) are selccted by the UGC from results obtained a t the General Certificate of'Education (Advanced Levcl) Exan~ination conducted annually by the Government Departn~eilt of Exainiuations.The number admitted for physical sciences in 1995 ( for academic year 1993194) was 1809 which is 48.1% of the number eligible in that category.This is quite satisfactory when compared to 14.5% for all admissions.The academic year is backdated because the universities except Jaffna lost two academic years due to social disturbances in 1988-89.This gap is gradually narrowing.

MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION
I:n Sri Lanka, the demand for tertiary and higher education has run ahead of the resources available.Therefore, it is essential to diversify the opportuniti.es in the tertiaryhigher education system.The enormous pressure on students seekin.gplaces in the conventional university system would.be reduced if it would be possible to attract students to other avenues of tertiary education leading to middle level qual.ifications with an opportunity to take university degree programmes if so desired.Even though more job o p p o ~t i e s are available tor personnel who obtain middle level qualification, the demand is less than that for traditional university education.By creating incentives in the form of (i) social recognition of the middle level qualificatioll as a profession., (ii) opening avenues for those who later wish to obtain university degrees; it may be possible to popularise the middle level education and training.The I-Ia-dy Institute of Technology, Ampara named after its fo~u~djng Director, Thomas Hardy was established in 1957.
The University of Moratuwa started as an Institute of Practical Technology.As stated.earlier, it is now a well established university but it also still.co~lducts technical courses leading to the National Diploma in Techn.ology.The course is of a high standard.
After the country received independence, there has been a fairly rapid increase in the number of technical colleges.The technical colleges nlay be roughly tabulated (Table 1) according to the period they were establ.ished.
'I'able 1: Establishment of Technical Colleges in Sri Lanka.

Number of Technical Colleges
1. 890-99 1900890-99 -49 1950890-99 -59 1960890-99 -69 1970890-99 -79 1980890-99 -89 1990-Total -Total This shows that the country had only one technical college for over half'a century and that after independence, technical colleges began t o be established systematically.The thirty two technical colleges are distributed regionally throughout the island.They now have a total enrolment of 14791, the annual admissions being around 12000 most of these being for short courses.These are of course among business study courses, general study courses and craft/ engineering courses.Courses last from three months to three years.Nearly a1.l crawengineering courses are full time.Cramengineering courses include, ,among others, training to become jewellery manufacturers and designers, draughtsman apprentices, masons, automotive mechanics, electricians, gas and arc welders, general machinists, mechanical fitters, metal fabricators, plumbers, ra&o TV and electronics tech.nicians, refrigerator and air conditioner mechanics, wood machinists, brass engravers and lathe machine tool operators.

Other Training Programmes
The

Formal
Almost all professional organisations are established to ensure that appropriate standards of practices of knowledge are developed within the professions.The students who have shown maturity, promise and potential but failed t o enter the formal university system are given opportunities to pursue education at a higher level to acquire professional qualifications awarded by some professioi~al institutions.These programmes are conducted t o suit those already employed.
The professional bodies concerned with Architecture, Chemistry, Engineering, etc., play a leading role in this aspect in Sri Lanlra.The courses conducted by these institutions not only provide an opportunity for non-university graduates to acquire professional qualifications but also for graduates to update their slrills and abilities in a particular discipline.This meets the demand for continuing professional education in the respective disciplines.The formal evaluation is also conducted by the institutions to test the theoretical basis of understanding of concepts especially in the application of the particular discipline.In a rapidly changing world, such as we live in today, it is imperative to cultivate and evolve elements of adaptability to change and to learn to adopt changes in the particular discipline.Formal courses conducted in disciplines such as arhtecture, chemistry, engineering, etc., are somewhat helpful to achieve the above objective.Since these courses are conducted only in English, they also indirectly contribute towards the achievement of Sri Lailkan col~esiveness and ethnic harmony.There is a need to decentralise these courses which now operate primarily in Colomho and its Suburbs.A l l formal coui-ses are associated with rigid evaluation procedures leacling to professional qualifications which are internationally rccognised.
College of Education and Teachers Training Colleges, run by tbc Ministry of Education should also be included in this categoiy of' formal professional institutions.
Continuing non-formal eclucation assumes a vital role in the transfbrn~ation of inchvidual lives to more productive and fruitid types.The non formal education.tends to begin a t the end of the formal undergraduate, post@-aduate 01: professional education.All types of formal education listed above, generally have gaps and voids especnally with respect to the employment or the interests of persons receivi11.geducation.Many organisations in the professional (NGO) sectors, t11.e state sector, private sector and the educational sector conduct 11012.-formaleducation in the hi-m of seminars, workshops, short term courses etc.All media agencies also play an important role in this respect.There is always a lack of entl~usiasin in the pa~ticipation among many persons who are likely to benefit from such programmes.The encouragement by the employers i n the form of some incentives will be a remedial measure.

POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION AND RESEAnCH IN PHYSICAL SCIENCES
The impression t h a t prevails among man.ygraduates even today, is that t.11~ postg~aduate education i n science is not a reality in Srj.Lanka.Tlle gen.eral trend that existed in the last few decades and also exists today, is always to seek postgraduate education i n science abroad.However it.should be statecl that postgraduate programmes were started quite early in Mathematics, Cbemi s t r y a n d Physics 1eadin.gt o t h e a w a r d s of M.Sc d e g r e e s to M r l3 Kanagasabapathy (Mathematics) in 1946, Miss W.P.D. Peiris (Chemistl-y) and Miss.P. Kandasamy (Physics) i n 1955.These achieven~ents helped to el.iminate the myth t h a t prevailed on the necessity to go abroad to obtain postgraduate degrees.

Universities
Universities of Sri Lanka were primarily established to conduct ~ulderg~aduate science education by training students for the award of' General Science and Special Science degrees in different subject combinations and subject areas.
B.Sc. Special Courses are equivalent in some ways to M.Sc.courses.The kadtion, wlGc11 is modelled on old Blltish Universities still persists wit11 only some minor ch.anges.The research activities a t Universities for postgraduate degrees in the past were maildy and understandably geared towards academic interest of iiiclivid~~al teach.ers.Some dedicated university teachers were successf~~l 1.11 creating an environment for research a t -universities, thus moving towards the achievement of' excellence in the respective fields.However, in the recent past, there has been substailtial diversification of research activities a t Universities which.better fulfills the needs of the country.
Th.e only way to assess the output of research is to evaluate the research p~tblications ancl comm~ulications i n c l ~~d i n g patnuts during a particular period.Table 2 sliows the output from different Universities during a five yea-r period.I t should be said, that cluantitywise, University of Peradcniya gains tlie first; place.I t is difficult to assess the quality of publications without referring to cxperts in the respective fields.Since the information in Table 2 docs not carry the distinction between publications and commui~ications, the assessment on the quality is more difficult.Still tlxis reveals a substantial clevelopme~~t ofl.esca~cll a t University ofperadeniya in the last few decades wl-Licli has led to the estabhsl~ment of a Postgraduate Institute of Science there in 1997.
In addition to the publications, the number of postgraduate degrees awarded also gives a n assessment of the Postgraduate research.I t is obvious that the number of' postgraduate degrees awarded is relatively small in comparison wit11 the research programmes.A postgraduate degree (M.Ph1 or Ph.D.) generally talies more time than expected mainly due to lack of facilities including the accessibility to recent literature.Another contributory factor is that tlie supe~visor is (iften required t o assist t h e undergraduate teaching programmes an.d 1 or administration as the pilme duty which limits a person's devotion of time for guid.ingresearch.Further, the non existence of research g1:oups a t many jnstit~ltions could contribute to these delays.In many developed countries, the msearch student is also guided by the research group even if the supervisor is too busy wit11 other activities.The existence of a research group (team) is a rare occurrence in Sri Lanka.There is always a necessity to encourage team work in research in Sri Lanka by providing adequate facilities and environment for research.The NSF (NARESA) often makes grants to University staff to help them to form teams in their selected field to conduct research.The establislmlent of such groups will undoubtedly reduce the undue delays in the submission of theses for postgraduate research degrees.Very often there is an undue delay between the submission of the thesis and the awa-d of the degree.The procedure for the award of a postgraduate degree is often not as smooth as that of the 6.Sc.degree.The Postgraduate Institute of Science (PGIS) at the University of Peradeniya may be a remedial measure to overcome such difficulties.This necessitates the gradual release of University staff from heavy ~nderg~acluate teaching and evaluation work, giving more incentives for the initiation of'nlore and more research activities.
Obtaining a Ph.D degree in Physics locally was long considered to be a difficult task due to many limitations.However througl~ a Sandwich postgraduate programme, some Sri Lanl~:an Universities were zble to produce P11.Ds in physics from about 1991.This has been possible through the active support of the Interl~atioilal Science Programmes of the Uppsala University, Sweden.
Collaborative research programmes with foreign universities and foreign clonors have assisted in the devcloprnent of postgraduate research in o~lr-universities and rescarch institutions.

Other Research Institutions
Apart from Universities, the research institutions in Sri Lanlra have a vital role to play.The applied and basic research that these institutions are expected to carry out, slould as far as possible be geared towards the award of a postgraduate degree by a University.This enhances the quality of the applied research and also helps to incorporate fundamental principles of the subject area to interpret the results, thus acheving a proper guidance of the "Applied research".For example, the monitor-ing programme for the collection of baseline data on the environment could be oliented towards the meaningfd interpretation of the data and investigation on improvements of the techniques etc.Since the presentation of only the data in a thesis is insufficient for the award of a postgraduate degree, the researcller(s) will pay more emphasis on the interpretation and improvement of techniques, if the award of a postgraduate degree is anticipated in association with the work.This enables the researcher(s) to produce not only a mere set of data but also a meaningful interpretation which in the long run helps in the development of the country.The applied research associated with an award of a postgraduate degree is always properly guided by the fundamental principles in the subject area, whch prevents the repetition of similar type of work at another institution.The applied research based on the same fundamental principle is often conducted at two different ii~stitutions claiming that the i esearch work is a requirement

tion
Act No. 20 of 1966.It established a National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) with wide powers over the Universities.The =ce Chancellor of a University was appointed by the Minister of Education from three names submitted by NCHE.During the period of office of the NCHE (1966-72) two new universities were established.Colombo Campus of the University of Ceylon as University of Colombo, and a College of Advanced Technology at Gtubedda, which later became the University of Moratuwa.
are now under the newly established Postgraduate Institute of Science.It also conducts postgraduate studies up to M. Phil, Ph.D. i n all the major science disciplines.Sri Jayewardenepura University has a Faculty of Applied Sciences.It conducts stumes leading upto the Ph.D. University of Kelaniya, has in its science faculty in addition to the usual basic science departments, a department of microbiology and a department of industrial management.The department of mathematics conducts, i n addition to pure and applied mathematics, a degree course in statistics and computer science.The faculty conducts s t u h e s in most of the science disciplines up to Ph.D, level.The University of Moratuwa is basically engineering oriented.The Faculty of Engineering has also a department of textile and clothmg technology; The university has a separate Faculty of Architecture devoted to arcllikcture, building economics and town and country planning.The university conducts studies up to M. Sc. and Ph.D. in many of the relevant disciplines.The Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna has in addition to the normal departments, a department of computer science.Studies in most disciplines are conducted up to the Ph.D. level.The University of Ruhuna, Faculty of Science has a separate department of fisheries biology.The faculty conducts studies up to the Ph.D.
universities, physical science based courses are also conducted by technical colleges.Thesc are directly administered by the Department of Technical Education and Training under the Ministry of Higher Education.Thc oldest is the Ceylon Techcal College at Maradana established 111 1593.Technical Collcgcs in Galle and Kandy were subsequently established in 1956.
The University of Ceylon was established on 1 July 1942 with Dr (later Sir) Ivor Jennings as Vice Chancellor.Plans were drawn for the buildings a t Peradeniya but the second World War was the main cause of delay in establishing the university there.Thus the university remained in Colombo.The Arts Faculty was shifted to Peradeniya in 1952.The Ceylon Medical College, which became the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ceylon on.1942, and the Faculties of Science and Engineering remained i n Colombo.Faculties of Law and Agriculture and Veterinary Science had been shifted in 1949 to Peradeniya.By the time Sir Ivor Jennings left the university in 1955, the university had been vely fumly established with its autonomy preserved.