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Sri Lanka
10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

Sitting of Tuesday, 3 June 2025

10th Parliament· 23 debates· 181 speeches· 56 speakers

Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 1750149440002739 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard

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Order of business

Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.

  4. 4 Oral question Oral Question: Government Universities and Higher Education Admissions (Q.381/2025) 10 speeches
    • Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF

      AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake asked the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education to provide detailed data on Sri Lanka’s government and private universities. He requested figures on universities, faculties, student enrolment, professors, operating costs, student costs, degree costs by discipline, asset values, and world rankings, with separate information for each institution.

      Education Full speech →
    • Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna - Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education JJB

      AI summary Deputy Minister Madhura Senevirathna, replying on behalf of the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, provided detailed data on Sri Lanka’s higher education sector, including 17 UGC universities with 122 faculties, several other state higher education institutions, student enrolments, faculty numbers, and professor counts. He stated that, under the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978, only state universities are termed “universities,” while 28 private/local degree-awarding institutes are recognized under Section 25A, with 49,146 students enrolled as at 31 December 2024. He said the Ministry does not maintain per-student cost data for private degree-awarding institutes because they do not receive Treasury funding, though their recognition criteria and annual reports are subject to oversight.

      Education Full speech →
    • Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF

      AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake raised a supplementary question on higher education capacity and foreign exchange outflows. He noted that while 174,000 students reportedly qualify for university admission after the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination, only about 55,400 are accommodated by the UGC in 22 universities, and cited media reports that around 100,000 students go abroad annually for higher education. He sought to quantify the resulting financial outflow, estimating an average annual cost of Rs. 7 million per student and referring to its conversion into US dollars.

      Education Full speech →
    • The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF

      AI summary Hon. Ravi Karunanayake asked why the Government had stopped the third Z-score-based intake to the Kotelawala Defence University Medical Faculty and urged intervention to keep it open to local students, citing a reported Supreme Court case and discussions between Vice Chancellors and the President. He linked the issue to shortages and emigration of doctors, arguing that university capacity should be expanded rather than restricted. He also proposed using medical education capacity to attract foreign students and earn foreign exchange.

      EducationHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna JJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna said the Government’s education reforms aim to expand higher education pathways beyond universities by integrating vocational education into schools, creating progression routes into higher education, and aligning training with job creation under the economic programme. He said work on transnational education is focused on quality enhancement and exchange programmes with state and other universities, guided by student needs and UNESCO competency-based approaches. On Kotelawala Defence University, he said its medical graduate output and hospital placement capacity are being reviewed through a multi-stakeholder process, stressing that universities are not being closed and noting that KDU comes under the Ministry of Defence rather than the UGC.

      EducationEmployment Full speech →
    • The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake NDF

      AI summary Ravi Karunanayake noted that recruitment to the armed forces is declining, citing information that only nine recruits joined in the latest intake. He suggested that this reduction in numbers could be considered as part of the solution to the issue under discussion.

      Security & Defence Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna JJB

      AI summary The Minister said health workforce placements are becoming constrained and that staffing requirements must be reassessed alongside the output of state medical faculties. He stated that universities will not be closed, but a time-bound, multi-party review will determine the appropriate course of action.

      EducationHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa JJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa merely rose to speak, with no substantive remarks, proposal, question, or argument recorded in the excerpt.

      Parliamentary Procedure Full speech →
    • The Hon. Speaker procedural
      Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa JJB

      AI summary The Health Ministry emphasized that all medical graduates, whether from state universities, Kotelawala Defence University, or foreign universities after passing the Act 16 examination, require proper internship training before practising. Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa noted that shortages of certified consultants are limiting internship placements and said a temporary decision had been taken after consultations. He stated that the Government must urgently develop a sustainable mechanism to provide internships and ensure the quality of doctors entering state service, the private sector, or working abroad.

      EducationHealthcareEmployment Full speech →