Features

Attracting and retaining academic staff: Perspectives of junior lecturers

Published

3 years ago

2023/05/9

By Udari Abeyasinghe

Last week’s Kuppi column, by Kaushalya Perera, focused on labour concerns at state universities and the impact of measures taken by the government on the recruitment and retention of academic staff. In this article, I specifically draw attention to the factors that affect attracting and retaining young lecturers and their career development in the state university system, especially at a time of economic crisis. To do this, I will use my own experiences and those of junior lecturers in the medical and dental fields with whom I have had conversations across several state universities.

Obstructed career development

Senseless circulars and inflexible schemes of recruitment have cast doubts and fears about career development among junior lecturers in the medical and dental fields.

The recent amendment (Commission circular 08/2022) to the schemes of recruitment for the posts of Senior Lecturer Grades I and II (medical/dental) states that a doctoral degree or an MD (Doctor of Medicine) with board certification by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), or a master’s degree, in the relevant field, with full time research of at least 24 months duration, will be required. Accordingly, a part time master’s degree, in the relevant field, will not be considered for recruitment, confirmation in the position, or promotion.

This amendment has eliminated the provision probationary lecturers had to obtain the required academic qualifications, while working. Allowing lecturers to enter part-time masters/other degree programmes would enable the university to obtain their service for academic and administrative work, while enabling the lecturer to secure their academic position—a win-win for both parties during a time when new recruitments have been suspended.

The schemes of recruitment do not encourage junior lecturers to explore unconventional career trajectories. The preference for bachelor’s degrees, in the same field, makes it difficult for lecturers to enter interdisciplinary programmes as the latter may not qualify under the stringent first-degree requirements of the schemes of recruitment. Furthermore, some departments consider a PhD as less desirable than a MD in the medical/dental clinical fields, and PhD holders face some challenges as a result. The schemes of recruitment should recognize that different degree programmes bring different skills sets to departments and that disciplinary diversity is an asset.

Foreign training trouble

When probationary lecturers are recruited to a clinical department of a medical or dental faculty, they are expected to do a clinical postgraduate degree in the relevant field. In Sri Lanka, the PGIM, University of Colombo, is the official institute which conducts such degrees. After completing the MD, the candidate is required to go abroad for a year’s foreign training in order to become a board-certified consultant in the relevant field. It is the responsibility of the candidate to find a suitable position abroad for foreign training. Most foreign training positions offered are non-paid positions. As such, trainees are given a monthly stipend for a period of one year.

The recent decision taken by the government to suspend foreign training, using local funds, has wide consequences. Even though completion of MD allows lecturers to get confirmed in their position, without board certification, they are not eligible to become senior lecturers. This situation has directly affected not only retaining but also attracting talented medical and dental graduates into the university system. Why would anyone want to spend years working hard simply to remain in a junior academic position without being able to advance their careers?

With the current economic crisis, junior lecturers are increasingly facing difficulties, identifying guarantors to sign their bond agreements. Any lecturer who avails themselves of study leave must enter into an agreement and a bond with the university, which includes an obligatory period of service. If a lecturer secures a scholarship on their own to study in a postgraduate programme in an overseas university, a third of the scholarship value should be considered when calculating the monetary value of the bond. If the lecturer secures a scholarship through the university to follow the postgraduate programme at a foreign university, the entire value of the scholarship is considered when calculating the value of the bond. Due to the depreciation of the rupee, there are instances when scholarships are valued at over LKR 20 million. Due to the economic crisis, there is uncertainty as to whether academics who leave for overseas postgraduate studies would return. Unable to find guarantors, many junior academics are compelled to resign.

Academic theft

“Academic theft” refers to stealing research ideas, stealing hard work and not giving the actual researcher the credit that should be given. As an example, there are no guidelines on work ethic, acknowledging and respecting the work of academics and protecting the integrity of such work. One’s labour might get passed on as another’s without any acknowledgement. This is pure theft. Such an environment is not conducive to retaining good researchers. Junior faculty will not complain or bring this to light when it happens, for their careers depend on senior academics who are in commanding positions. They depend on senior colleagues for confirmation of their status and promotions.

Publishing a scientific communication requires an enormous amount of labour and time. It requires time to think of a sound scientific topic or a research question, to collect and analyze data, interpret results, read scientific literature, and so on. Ideas being stolen and not receiving the deserved credit, demotivates young academics to engage in research. When it is known that such practices take place in certain departments, or faculties, they are unable to attract young academics.

SGBV and institutional violence

Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) is widespread in universities even though there are university policies and procedures in place to prevent SGBV. Women students and junior academic/nonacademic staff are most vulnerable.

As a woman and a junior lecturer, I experienced sexual harassment by a senior professor against whom I lodged a complaint. After lengthy inquiries at the university, the perpetrator was found guilty of sexual harassment, but the university failed to take appropriate action as the university council chose to reject the inquiry report. During the period of harassment, complaint, and inquiry, I received the same advice from many colleagues: “Leave the university and never come back…” I believe they said so for my own safety (or maybe not). While SGBV survivors often have no choice but to leave the university when the authorities fail to take appropriate action, this form of institutional violence also deters women from joining academic departments where there are known abusers.

Hierarchy and discrimination

Probationary lecturers are at the bottom of the academic hierarchy. They are overburdened with teaching and are, in some departments, at the beck and call of seniors. They are expected to contribute to administrative tasks and research with very little acknowledgement of their work. They have very little time to focus on their own professional development, which in turn makes them less competitive in terms of postgraduate opportunities, reinforcing the vicious cycle of mediocrity in our state university system. Such discrimination has other consequences. For instance, accommodation for academics is provided based on seniority. At the University of Peradeniya, junior academics who are single may request rooms assigned for staff in students’ hostels. However, junior lecturers with children who come from distant areas are not eligible for this type of accommodation. They struggle to find affordable and decent accommodation and usually do not qualify for other forms of staff accommodation based on their seniority. The economic crisis has worsened the situation. Rents have skyrocketed; qualified young professionals are reluctant to apply for academic positions in distant universities.

The bigger picture

In this article, I outlined a few concerns that affect attracting and retaining young academics in state universities. Some matters should be addressed at the highest administrative level, while some may be addressed at the faculty and university level. Higher education policymakers should discuss and consider views of the relevant stakeholders before issuing circulars. The Ministry of Education should proactively intervene to address the problem of skyrocketing monetary values of bonds and the problem faced by medical and dental faculties with regards to overseas training. It is important to increase awareness and support mechanisms to prevent SGBV and academic theft in universities. Having half-baked policies that are not implemented will not help. Mechanisms should be established, and initiatives should be taken where junior academics can make use of these policies to protect themselves and hold the university authorities accountable. Unless these issues are addressed urgently, state universities, including and especially medical and dental faculties, will collapse in time to come.

(Udari Abeyasinghe is attached to the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya)

Kuppi is a politics and pedagogy happening on the margins of the lecture hall that parodies, subverts, and simultaneously reaffirms social hierarchies.

All News Advertisement

Features

US’ drastic aid cut to UN poses moral challenge to world

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

An UN humanitarian mission in the Gaza. [File: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency]

‘Adapt, shrink or die’ – thus runs the warning issued by the Trump administration to UN humanitarian agencies with brute insensitivity in the wake of its recent decision to drastically reduce to $2bn its humanitarian aid to the UN system. This is a substantial climb down from the $17bn the US usually provided to the UN for its humanitarian operations.

Considering that the US has hitherto been the UN’s biggest aid provider, it need hardly be said that the US decision would pose a daunting challenge to the UN’s humanitarian operations around the world. This would indeed mean that, among other things, people living in poverty and stifling material hardships, in particularly the Southern hemisphere, could dramatically increase. Coming on top of the US decision to bring to an end USAID operations, the poor of the world could be said to have been left to their devices as a consequence of these morally insensitive policy rethinks of the Trump administration.

Earlier, the UN had warned that it would be compelled to reduce its aid programs in the face of ‘the deepest funding cuts ever.’ In fact the UN is on record as requesting the world for $23bn for its 2026 aid operations.

If this UN appeal happens to go unheeded, the possibilities are that the UN would not be in a position to uphold the status it has hitherto held as the world’s foremost humanitarian aid provider. It would not be incorrect to state that a substantial part of the rationale for the UN’s existence could come in for questioning if its humanitarian identity is thus eroded.

Inherent in these developments is a challenge for those sections of the international community that wish to stand up and be counted as humanists and the ‘Conscience of the World.’ A responsibility is cast on them to not only keep the UN system going but to also ensure its increased efficiency as a humanitarian aid provider to particularly the poorest of the poor.

It is unfortunate that the US is increasingly opting for a position of international isolation. Such a policy position was adopted by it in the decades leading to World War Two and the consequences for the world as a result for this policy posture were most disquieting. For instance, it opened the door to the flourishing of dictatorial regimes in the West, such as that led by Adolph Hitler in Germany, which nearly paved the way for the subjugation of a good part of Europe by the Nazis.

If the US had not intervened militarily in the war on the side of the Allies, the West would have faced the distressing prospect of coming under the sway of the Nazis and as a result earned indefinite political and military repression. By entering World War Two the US helped to ward off these bleak outcomes and indeed helped the major democracies of Western Europe to hold their own and thrive against fascism and dictatorial rule.

Republican administrations in the US in particular have not proved the greatest defenders of democratic rule the world over, but by helping to keep the international power balance in favour of democracy and fundamental human rights they could keep under a tight leash fascism and linked anti-democratic forces even in contemporary times. Russia’s invasion and continued occupation of parts of Ukraine reminds us starkly that the democracy versus fascism battle is far from over.

Right now, the US needs to remain on the side of the rest of the West very firmly, lest fascism enjoys another unfettered lease of life through the absence of countervailing and substantial military and political power.

However, by reducing its financial support for the UN and backing away from sustaining its humanitarian programs the world over the US could be laying the ground work for an aggravation of poverty in the South in particular and its accompaniments, such as, political repression, runaway social discontent and anarchy.

What should not go unnoticed by the US is the fact that peace and social stability in the South and the flourishing of the same conditions in the global North are symbiotically linked, although not so apparent at first blush. For instance, if illegal migration from the South to the US is a major problem for the US today, it is because poor countries are not receiving development assistance from the UN system to the required degree. Such deprivation on the part of the South leads to aggravating social discontent in the latter and consequences such as illegal migratory movements from South to North.

Accordingly, it will be in the North’s best interests to ensure that the South is not deprived of sustained development assistance since the latter is an essential condition for social contentment and stable governance, which factors in turn would guard against the emergence of phenomena such as illegal migration.

Meanwhile, democratic sections of the rest of the world in particular need to consider it a matter of conscience to ensure the sustenance and flourishing of the UN system. To be sure, the UN system is considerably flawed but at present it could be called the most equitable and fair among international development organizations and the most far-flung one. Without it world poverty would have proved unmanageable along with the ills that come along with it.

Dehumanizing poverty is an indictment on humanity. It stands to reason that the world community should rally round the UN and ensure its survival lest the abomination which is poverty flourishes. In this undertaking the world needs to stand united. Ambiguities on this score could be self-defeating for the world community.

For example, all groupings of countries that could demonstrate economic muscle need to figure prominently in this initiative. One such grouping is BRICS. Inasmuch as the US and the West should shrug aside Realpolitik considerations in this enterprise, the same goes for organizations such as BRICS.

The arrival at the above international consensus would be greatly facilitated by stepped up dialogue among states on the continued importance of the UN system. Fresh efforts to speed-up UN reform would prove major catalysts in bringing about these positive changes as well. Also requiring to be shunned is the blind pursuit of narrow national interests.

Features

Egg white scene …

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Hi! Great to be back after my Christmas break.

Thought of starting this week with egg white.

Yes, eggs are brimming with nutrients beneficial for your overall health and wellness, but did you know that eggs, especially the whites, are excellent for your complexion?

OK, if you have no idea about how to use egg whites for your face, read on.

Egg White, Lemon, Honey:

Separate the yolk from the egg white and add about a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and about one and a half teaspoons of organic honey. Whisk all the ingredients together until they are mixed well.

Apply this mixture to your face and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes before cleansing your face with a gentle face wash.

Don’t forget to apply your favourite moisturiser, after using this face mask, to help seal in all the goodness.

Egg White, Avocado:

In a clean mixing bowl, start by mashing the avocado, until it turns into a soft, lump-free paste, and then add the whites of one egg, a teaspoon of yoghurt and mix everything together until it looks like a creamy paste.

Apply this mixture all over your face and neck area, and leave it on for about 20 to 30 minutes before washing it off with cold water and a gentle face wash.

Egg White, Cucumber, Yoghurt:

In a bowl, add one egg white, one teaspoon each of yoghurt, fresh cucumber juice and organic honey. Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a thick paste.

Apply this paste all over your face and neck area and leave it on for at least 20 minutes and then gently rinse off this face mask with lukewarm water and immediately follow it up with a gentle and nourishing moisturiser.

Egg White, Aloe Vera, Castor Oil:

To the egg white, add about a teaspoon each of aloe vera gel and castor oil and then mix all the ingredients together and apply it all over your face and neck area in a thin, even layer.

Leave it on for about 20 minutes and wash it off with a gentle face wash and some cold water. Follow it up with your favourite moisturiser.

Features

Confusion cropping up with Ne-Yo in the spotlight

Published

14 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Ne-Yo: His management should clarify the last-minute cancellation

Superlatives galore were used, especially on social media, to highlight R&B singer Ne-Yo’s trip to Sri Lanka: Global superstar Ne-Yo to perform live in Colombo this December; Ne-Yo concert puts Sri Lanka back on the global entertainment map; A global music sensation is coming to Sri Lanka … and there were lots more!

At an official press conference, held at a five-star venue, in Colombo, it was indicated that the gathering marked a defining moment for Sri Lanka’s entertainment industry as international R&B powerhouse and three-time Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo prepares to take the stage in Colombo this December.

What’s more, the occasion was graced by the presence of Sunil Kumara Gamage, Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs of Sri Lanka, and Professor Ruwan Ranasinghe, Deputy Minister of Tourism, alongside distinguished dignitaries, sponsors, and members of the media.

Shah Rukh Khan: Disappointed his fans in Sri Lanka

According to reports, the concert had received the official endorsement of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, recognising it as a flagship initiative in developing the country’s concert economy by attracting fans, and media, from all over South Asia.

Nick Carter: His concert, too, was cancelled due to “Unforeseen circumstances

However, I had that strange feeling that this concert would not become a reality, keeping in mind what happened to Nick Carter’s Colombo concert – cancelled at the very last moment.

Carter issued a video message announcing he had to return to the USA due to “unforeseen circumstances” and a “family emergency”.

Though “unforeseen circumstances” was the official reason provided by Carter and the local organisers, there was speculation that low ticket sales may also have been a factor in the cancellation.

Well, “Unforeseen Circumstances” has cropped up again!

In a brief statement, via social media, the organisers of the Ne-Yo concert said the decision was taken due to “unforeseen circumstances and factors beyond their control.”

Ne-Yo, too, subsequently made an announcement, citing “Unforeseen circumstances.”

The public has a right to know what these “unforeseen circumstances” are, and who is to be blamed – the organisers or Ne-Yo!

Ne-Yo’s management certainly need to come out with the truth.

However, those who are aware of some of the happenings in the setup here put it down to poor ticket sales, mentioning that the tickets for the concert, and a meet-and-greet event, were exorbitantly high, considering that Ne-Yo is not a current mega star.

We also had a cancellation coming our way from Shah Rukh Khan, who was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka for the City of Dreams resort launch, and then this was received: “Unfortunately due to unforeseen personal reasons beyond his control, Mr. Khan is no longer able to attend.”

Referring to this kind of mess up, a leading showbiz personality said that it will only make people reluctant to buy their tickets, online.

“Tickets will go mostly at the gate and it will be very bad for the industry,” he added.