JaGAAS lifetime awards 2025:

Vice Chancellor of the NSBM Green University, Prof. E. A. Weerasinghe, said that the government should take punitive measures against those chosen for foreign scholarships in case they violated bond conditions.

Tougher action was required to discourage public servants and academics from brazenly violating the trust placed on them, the top administrator said yesterday (23), in a brief interview with The Island after receiving Japanese Graduates’ Alumni Association of Sri Lanka (JaGAAS) lifetime awards 2025 at the BMICH on March 21. Prof. Weerasinghe received the award for exemplifying leadership and entrepreneurship in human capital development in higher education.

The other recipients were: Ms Baba Shigeko, Ito Yoshiaki, Koga Michio, Mikasa Jitsuo, Ogawa Kiyoko, Jagath Chandana Ramanayake, emeritus Prof. Yamada Yoshiaki, Prof. N.S. Cooray, Prof. Ranjith Dissanayake, retired IGP Chandra Fernando, Merrick Gooneratne, Dr. Nishantha Nanayakkara, Dr. OP.G. Rohan Pallewatta, Prof. Piyadasa Ratnayake, Ananda Shelton Thenuwara, Dayasiri Warnakulasooriya and Prof. E.A. Weerasinghe.

They received the coveted JaGAAS lifetime awards from Japanese Ambassador in Colombo Akio Isomata who, in his brief address, declared their dedication would inspire more people to pursue similar opportunities for study, collaboration and innovation.

Responding to The Island queries, Prof. Weerasinghe found fault with successive governments for failing to deal with wrongdoers. Alleging that academics were among the worst culprits, Prof. Weerasinghe said that along with him three others – a researcher with the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board and two University lecturers were chosen jointly by the governments of Japan and Sri Lanka. “We proceeded to Japan in 1990 and having obtained a doctorate in economics from Osaka City University I returned home in 1997. My colleagues decided against doing so. The researcher stayed in Japan while the remaining two migrated to Australia.”

Prof. Weerasinghe said that his former colleagues, now in Australia, once sought the opportunity to join the University. But they were told not to expect opportunities in the motherland after having betrayed the trust the country placed on them.

Prof. Weerasinghe said that though he could have easily migrated to New Zealand with his wife and two children, they decided to come back home. At the time Weerasinghe had received a Japanese scholarship he was serving the University of Sri Jayewardenapura as an assistant lecturer. “In terms of the bond conditions, I served the University for a period of seven years,” Prof. Weerasinghe said, adding that he never once regretted the decision to pursue a career here.

Recipients of JaGAAS lifetime awards

At the end of his sabbatical leave, Prof. Weerasinghe was offered the opportunity to serve as the Director General (DG) of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) in 2005. Prof. Weerasinghe emphasized that the NIBM had been in a much deteriorated state and restoration of the public faith in the Institution seemed a herculean task. “The University released me without pay,” a smiling Prof. Weerasinghe said, recalling his efforts to expand NIBM to other major towns, including Galle, Matara and Kandy, over the years.

The academic emphasised that in spite of the raging war in the Northern and Eastern regions and occasional terrorist attacks in the South the government sustained the NIBM. Sometime after the conclusion of the conflict in 2009, Prof. Weerasinghe, in his capacity as the DG, NIBM has proposed transforming the institute to a fully-fledged University. “Some were skeptical about my proposal. But, I pushed hard and finally managed to convince the powers that be that NIBM could be the foundation for a fully-fledged University,” Prof. Weerasinghe said.

Prof. Weerasinghe paid a glowing tribute to the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) for providing the wherewithal to launch the project in 2013. The BoC provided a staggering Rs 10 bn on a Treasury guarantee that made it possible for us to establish NSBM Green University in 2016, Prof. Weerasinghe said, declaring that his team ensured that the loan was paid on time. “There had never been an issue regarding the repayment of the loan and today we are a fully self-financed, state-of-the-art international-level University eyeing further expansion.’’

VC Weerasinghe said that recently they finalised a Rs 7.3 bn loan with the BoC in support of further expansion. Asked to explain the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and the subsequent unprecedented economic crisis that compelled the government to declare bankruptcy in early 2022, Prof. Weerasinghe said that they received the maximum backing of the people who had faith in the University.

Emphasising the responsibility on the part of the government whoever is in power to ensure stability, Prof. Weerasinghe said that during the first phase of the project he had to work with 12 Ministers. The VC didn’t mince his words when he pointed out unnecessary difficulties caused by political appointments over the years. It would be easy to cause chaos, disrupt systems and undermine institutions that were managed without being a burden to the Treasury, Prof. Weerasinghe said. However, restoring public faith in such institutions would be extremely difficult, the Japanese scholar mentioned.

“NSBM Green University belongs to the government. Therefore, the University belongs to the people. Primary difference is we do not depend on government funds at all,” Prof. Weerasinghe said. According to him the University produced over 20,000 graduates and at the moment over 13,000 students were at five faculties, namely business, computing, engineering, science and postgraduate studies. “We have over 70 degree programmes to suit students,” Prof. Weerasinghe said, underscoring the pivotal importance of the government recognizing the contribution made by the University.

By Shamindra Ferdinando