The IUSF helps the Government – We need a rational basis to improve the ‘Free Education System’

The Inter University Students Federation or IUSF colloquially knows as ‘Anthare’ takes its ideology from pre JVP times into a Marxist Leninist way of the world that is now not even accepted by those traditionally assisted this philosophy.

It is therefore easy for the Government to point the absurdity of their demands, consigning them into a bunch of morons in public debate. A seminar held yesterday under their auspices brings out a cabal of extreme left wing groups, which included the Maoist Students Federation, that called for agitation against Private Universities being set up, and that Free Education is a right of all up to Tertiary level.

Let us go back to basics. In Sri Lanka today, Free Education at Primary and Secondary Level is available to all who seek it. At Tertiary level it is only available to about 10% of those who qualify to enter University. The other fact also is that this so called free education sucks in quality!!!! It may be due to the incompetence of the management of Education by the bureaucrats, the lack of adequate funding by government, the incorrect perception of Education by teachers as a career opportunity rather than a dedicated vocation, and the expectation of individual rights by citizens, without a commitment on their part to make it work as good parents or school supporters.

Based on this reality, it is impossible to offer a GOOD free education system for all, due to a combination of the factors referred to in the previous paragraph. We must then make do with what we have. We cannot move mountains, but we need to work in partnership that is the State, the Public, (including parents, sponsors, companies, past pupils) and Private Sector educational institutions to improve the quality of education offered to the Citizens of this country so that their true potential in maximized, and thus lead to a greater degree of justifiable economic growth, achieving the targets set for quality of life of all our citizens.

This partnership is NOT happening as the State has failed to take the lead in promoting a policy that is realistic, implementable, along with a proper allocation of resources to achieve these goals. This is what the fight should be FOR. Not against those who wish to spend money of their own to set up institutions which will charge fees and admit pupils at their own risk so that they can earn a qualification they (students) believe will lead to better prospects than what a non fee levying state institution could offer. I therefore hope a sensible National student union will emerge to agitate for this Basic DEMAND on behalf of students.

Educated youth in search of employment – A case study – points to ponder

I helped a complete stranger one day over the phone in giving ideas of how to draft a cover letter in obtaining an interview for a job, which was part of her assignment for the two year full time Diploma in English course she is currently following at the Advanced Technological Institute in Dehiwela. She has just commenced her second year, and there are now 60 in the batch with 59 girls and one boy. When the course commenced there were 175 and many have transferred out or dropped out. The minimum qualification for entry to this course is either an A or B in English at the O levels and a pass at the A levels.

There are a smattering of such institutes dotted all over the Island, which offer A level students who have not obtained sufficient marks to enter the University system, an alternative. The courses are usually two years in length if they are full time and are for subjects such as IT, English, Business Administration, perceived as being necessary in obtaining employment.

These institutions offer Free Tuition, and some burseries and mahapola shols for living expenses, and are also part of the Ministry of Higher Education. There is the possibility of doing part time courses there too, while in employment and for that there are tuition fees. In this facility there is a girl’s hostel, where first years are housed, with the boys having to find accommodation locally. Many students follow other courses at the same time, and the student in question, while following this course is also studying for an external degree at the Kelaniya University in Arts, specializing Dance and Drama. The classes for the latter being on Saturdays.

I met this student at my office yesterday, as she was seeking my assistance in obtaining employment, preferring to go part time, while doing a job as it costs her Rs10,000 a month to live, her home being in Embilipitiya. She said that she has topped her batch at her college as well as all the similar colleges in the island and was seeking even a job as a receptionist as she is fluent in English also.

My observation was that they are totally unprepared in knowing how to get about finding a job, even though they now live in the metropolis, where there is a pool of jobs available, and heavily advertised, but for which the lack of experience is a huge handicap. This is where the ability to prepare a relevant resume and good cover letter showing the applicant knows what he or she wants, along with the confidence at interviews gives them an edge, and also the offer of working without pay, for a few months to show their aptitude in a given job, hitherto untested can be measured and competency tested in a real world working environment.

All this points to is the crying need for a life skills development workshop upon completion of the A levels, to be held soon after sitting the exams and not after the results are obtained. Students can then be equipped to make choices that take into account their personal preferences and not just with reference to parental or peer pressure about what they should do.

The Present crisis in the State University System – and a way forward

I am writing this in mid January 2012. As of today around 250 students have been suspended or arrested due to various bogus or valid reasons in many of the 8 State University campuses around the Island. Even the day before, the Minister of Higher Education was booed by the students of the Jaffna University, for insinuating that the LTTE is active within the State University system and are inciting the students. Of course there are also the ragging incidents with the new intake that have also led to some of the arrests and suspensions amongst the numbers referred to above. In that aspect, where ragging is a kind of initiation into a mindset of trying to equalize students, by especially forcing the individualistic and the somewhat perceived privileged into adopting a comradeship, I reject as outdated. This culture should be gradually eased with reason prevailing.

Having dealt with ragging with a brush stroke that will not endear me to the student body, I hope they will see the bigger picture of what truly ails the State Tertiary sector and agitate for an improvement in both their Educational environment and also the value of the degree for which they have sacrificed not just financially but also in time, as many are past 26 when they finally receive their degree certificates, an utter waste of talent, when I consider that I had a degree a few days past my 21st birthday and was in full time employment two months later.

There is one main reason I believe for the true rationale for student agitation. That is the interference by the state into a big brother autocracy of trying to manipulate the mind of the students and also to impose a militaristic state security apparatus as an extension of the power of the dictatorship that is now being IMPOSED on the placid and unsuspecting populace of Sri Lanka. Added to which the back door disadvantages the state system is bound to face with the gradual growth of the Private Tertiary Sector as well as the Fee Levying State sector in Education, should be what the Students agitate against. The political appointees to the positions of Vice Chancellors of the Universities are also detrimental to the independence of the State University system and one which must be reversed.

The agitation is led by a motley collection of nationally known, but politically void individuals professing allegiance to either official JVP or its breakaway rebel group, but who do not have a rational answer to the students grievances. These opportunists have taken center stage and a following amongst the student numbers only due to a lack of alternative leadership by the UNP or a UNP affiliated student body that can show the students an alternative to the present anti Govt. IUSF unions. This alternative is essential as a counter to the current status quo.
The misguided leadership who are against the introduction of Private Universities, when they already exist, and who organized a now banned demonstration from Peradeniya to Colombo, are inevitably going to lead the students in a pied piper sense into an abyss. Students ought to realize this and seek an alternative.

I can see that this unhealthy direction will to lead to some regretful casualties, which the IUSF is likely hoping for, also for political gain. Only then can they show the other apathetic students that they are fighting for a cause. So let us show these students that they have some real issues with which to fight the Governemnt, and not some nebulous ones they will not be able to change.

I note below some of the real grievances that the whole student body should agitate about and if that is done with sufficient vigor, will be able to change the stance and possibly some of the policies in a direction that will truly benefit the students in the State Sector. Students in the state sector must face one reality, and that is those students who can afford WILL go the path of Private Tertiary Education either in Sri Lanka or overseas, with the possible exception of the study of Medicine.

Then we are left with those who do not have the funds, and are chosen to enter the University system. They need Educational Freedom in the sense that they should be permitted to learn and be taught free from political interference. There should transparency in the appointment of Vice Chancellors to ensure this freedom. The number of places with no Tuition Fees must be guaranteed at say 25,000 per annum so as to give a chance to those qualified to enter the system.

Secondly, as is inevitable, the Private Sector will attract a crème of the academic staff due to the ability to pay. In order that the State Sector does NOT fall behind, competitive remuneration to teaching staff given, but with accountability, with regard to minimum teaching hours per week. The 750+ staff who have skipped their bonds and remain overseas having got their PhD and Masters, are likely to return and those not, held to make good the bond, which was signed in good faith.

The resources allocated to the State Tertiary sector must increase. The Universities must be challenged to obtain quality classifications that put them on a par with International Universities. This is so that the degree these students come out with is of value in the international marketplace, where they have to compete for jobs. It is implied that English and IT skills are included in this resource allocation, and a true sense of self worth as graduates without a sense of entitlement are produced. They must understand that the state does not owe them a job, just because they have a degree, but instead realize the value of FREE EDUCATION.
Fourthly, the Government owned quasi military security must be withdrawn forthwith as they act as the listening arm of the State apparatus, and have now proved to be counterproductive to educational freedom and freedom of thought and expression, something that is valued highly in the Tertiary Educational sector.

The valuable lost time in waiting for entrance and the plethora of delays that just cost the economy, of a productive educated professional, must be reduced, with prominence given to the time value of money, that seems to be absent in the Govt. sector and which contributes to the mindset, that does not take account of it. This is also due to the lack of tertiary education of the MPs who are unable to understand this basic principle of economics.

Sixthly, Career counseling and guidance must be provided for students in the State Sector for all intakes and all years, so that instead of blaming the students for being unable to find jobs, the students are guided on how to find jobs and shown what is available both here and overseas, so they build their goals in life while at University rather than come out of it not knowing what opportunities are available with the qualifications they have. Life skills must be part of this program.

A fairer system of bursaries for students of poorer families, so that the principles of Free Education can be emboldened, but which carry with it some responsibilities upon completion, must be adopted as the current Mahapola scholarship amounts in real terms are now worth 10% of what they were when they were originally awarded. This has not kept pace with inflation, and the extra awarded for excellence must be made much bigger for incentive to perform while at University.

Point no eight in this list which is in no particular order of significance, is the question of competitiveness vis a vis the private sector. If the private sector is able to provide scholarships of say 5% that can further enhance the places available for disadvantaged pupils, while at the same time permitting the state sector a release valve to allocate resources to improving quality and not more places. The latter being taken by the private sector and an increasingly affluent middle class, who is able to pay for State owned but fee levying institutions such as the NIBM which is rapidly expanding nationwide.

I believe my proposals above are worth agitating for, as they are all for the benefit of existing and future students and the state would then be forced to allocate more funds, which they only have to divert from the heavy allocation to defense spending, where there is a gross mis-allocation of resources as part of the effort to provide security to an increasingly isolated regime, from its own people.

A Business University – National School of Business Management(NSBM)

NIBM (National Institute of Business Management) affiliated new University has been approved by the Cabinet, to be set up on 50 Acres of land in Homagama owned by the UDA, with an initial Investment of Rs5Billion. The Foundation is expected to be laid in March with Academic Activities set to commence in 2014.

The idea is to allow students with suitable O levels to go straight into this College and get a degree within 4 years, thus short circuiting the current cumbersome route where it takes 5 to 6 years after sitting for A levels to actually walk out with a degree. It sounds eminently sensible at first glance, and they expect an annual intake of about 12,000 students (current entry into 8 state Universities is 22,500 per annum) The idea is for degree programs to cover areas such as Management, Marketing, IT, Engineering and Design. I have only extracted this from a government owned newspaper and to that extent I qualify that what is said, proposed and actually likely to be achieved can vary immensely to possible even make my blog entry about this a waste of time.

I am taking the trouble to cover this information only on the assumption that if it is in fact successful there are many basic foundations in the Education of Sri Lankans, which must be in place before we can even begin to contemplate this. As the reality from ground breaking to opening is ambitious it is more likely it will happen around 2015 or 2016, and the initial intake is likely to be no more than 2,000 students. However I applaud the establishment of such an institution, especially to short circuit the time it takes to get a degree, a wholly wasteful exercise in Sri Lanka. I had an honors degree in Economics almost at my 21st birthday, as I studied in the UK, while most of the young people I have to liase with on youth programs only get their degrees when they are 26 or after, and often know a lot less than I did at 21!!

I believe this University though owned by the Government will be a “for profit” or at least fee based to cover the cost of education, and thereby not qualify as an Institution of Free Education in the Tertiary Sector. It is possible therefore to offer courses of excellence and courses that are directly catered to specific types of managerial jobs. To that extent I believe it will produce graduates who should be able to find employment in the private sector and not the state sector and also have to make a huge financial sacrifice to go there, and thereby are unlikely to waste their time. In reality this is another Private University, although owned by the Government and funded by it. The success or failure of this is completely dependent on the commitment and caliber of the Board and the funds allocated together with the level of political interference in its activities.

It will be interesting to see whether my predictions or the governments will turn out to be more accurate. I also predict that the cost will double to Rs10B and the project will be fraught with wastage and kickbacks that will delay its opening to the detriment of the students and the country.

My Wish for 2012 is for the Sri Lankan Journalists to use ‘Common Sense’ in helping their audience to think!!!

New Year’s day 2012 and I almost had a row with my Dad, when he said that according to the papers, Commercial Bank was doing a great job in their CSR by helping 6000 students with Computers and related assistance for IT.

I told him to read further and actually think. The Bank is in the business of using CSR to tell the public how good they are in helping worthy causes so that they get a lot of goodwill. However if Commercial Bank gives one computer to a school with 10,000 students they will say they helped 10,000 students with Computers and IT, because our people are so dumb as to believe what they read. In fact the Principal who has not internet or Computer is more than likely to have it at his office to teach himself computing as he would not want to look a fool while his students learn IT. “KALPANAKARANNA” please.

So the point I am trying to make is that there is always a story behind a story, and we only are shown and led to believe the surface ONLY. So let us get back to basics and teach the audience how to think and rationalize. After all many so called news items in Sri Lanka especially in the papers are planted items. They are either informercials, advertorials both paid by the company or government to boast about something they are about to do or done, and make it sound so much grander or of some journalist putting something by a friend or the owner putting some items of information he wants the readers to see.

It is very important in the present context when we have a Government blessed with misinformation to be able to see the wood from the trees and make up our minds as to what to believe. I call upon all journalists who are worth two cents in Sri Lanka to lend some thought to this and view the information for what it is and not be as gullible as the audience or readership, as they must have more grey hairs of common sense to guide their readership etc. into a frame of mind from which to come to their own conclusions.

With these few words I wish my readers every success in 2012 and please try to understand that my crusade in this blog is for the betterment of the great country of Sri Lanka so that its citizens can grow up, especially our young generation to be valuable citizens contributing immensely for the overall good of this country. I thank those who are sincerely doing their best in this regard and challenge others to take on the mantle as it is a noble cause that will give them the “pina” “good Karma” or any other merit that they deserve in this life of the lives from here on.

Intransigence by the Ministry of Higher Education in refusing to believe that there is a serious flaw in the A level results

Despite overwhelming evidence of a complete breakdown in the reporting systems in the issue of the A level results issued of Christmas day of all days, there is a complete lack of acceptance that there is something wrong.

There was initial acceptance that some errors had been found in the District and National ranking systems which had been subsequently corrected. However it appears that the problems with regard to the difference in the results as submitted to the school Heads and that in the Internet along with the fact that many students received results from subjects they did not sit have not been resolved. The Ministry Secretary and the Commissioner of Examinations dispute there is a problem, and the Minister in order to cover himself has said that there could be isolated instances of anomalies, but overall the results stand not requiring them to be withdrawn.

I maintain that the results MUST be withdrawn forthwith, and investigated and the new set of results for ALL students reissued once the problems have been ironed out. I do not believe the problem is isolated and am in the process of gathering data to present to the authorities and the Media so that they can judge for themselves if what I am saying is systemic or isolated.

Imagine if you are an A level student expecting the results or the Parent of one. How would you feel? I would not like to be in the shoes of one of them. I will not know if the results will be cancelled owing to the growing challenges from all parts of the country. Therefore the results I have received will not be believable either even if they are good or even better than I expected. This is a serious indictment of the Department of Examination’s inability to do their job properly.

In short there is a cock up of incredible proportions, and no one least of all the relevant Minister is willing to accept blame. Heads should roll, but it should begin with the Minister. I cannot understand why he nor the President who has not commented on this as he was partly to blame by forcing the Examinations Commissioner to release the results before he was ready. Only he and not the Minister is able to judge if they are ready with all the facts prior to releasing the examination results.

If this is any indication of how the Education and Examination Departments work, I dread to think how they will implement the new Education Policy the government is about to introduce with new syllabuses and subjects. Further the Private Universities Bill will be another example of a badly drafted one full of holes!!

The Private Universities Bill to be presented in January – the Suspension of Student Unions

The march from Peradeniya to Colombo, planned by the Peradeniya University students against the Private University Bill has been prevented by the Govt. and all the existing Student Unions have been suspended at that Campus.

Why are these students against Private Universities? Their main concern is that this is a back door method to gradually remove Free Education from Grade 1 to University in Sri Lanka. Are there grounds for concern? Yes definitely as the current education system in Sri Lanka has failed both the student, who cannot find a reasonable job upon graduation, but also the Country as the system does NOT produce graduates of a caliber that the Motherland wants.

The problem is not wholly of the University system, it is of Education in general and must be tackled at all stages, beginning at Grade 1, and a new thinking based on a realistic assessment is badly needed. I will not go into this broad subject and will concentrate only on the Private University fear. I understand that even the lecturers have lent their support to these students for this agitation.

In a private public instance, we already have sufficient examples with private schools and the issue is no different. The private sector can by definition offer attractive salaries, terms and conditions to draw the best. There could be a drain of teachers from the public sector further eroding the standard of instruction at University. This problem is there any way as there are hundreds of academics who have gone to overseas countries for Post Graduate and doctoral work and NOT returned to the Island, causing a shortage in the teaching cadre. On the flip side we must understand that our home grown talent can remain at home, rather than leave for pastures anew in foreign lands. The answer is to increase the pool of teachers to replace those who leave, rather than worry about the fact they leave. The other solution is to increase the salaries of the University Dons that has already been promised by the govt. to reduce this brain drain.

An environment with competition from the private sector is healthy in forcing the public sector to improve its quality of service delivery, which in this case are employable graduates. This is true the world over. One must remember that the government uses this premise as another reason not to spend more on education and instead gets the private sector to take the slack. Again, a case in point are the 500,000 students who pay for their schooling, which automatically reduces the strain on the state sector in educating them. This same principle no doubt guides the thinking behind private universities as that will reduce the burden on the state.
The fact that more funds may be required to keep up with the private sector both for quality students and quality teachers, may reduce the available free places for less well off kids to get into the State University system. On the other hand it will permit students with lower A level results to enter the private university system, creating an element of distrust where one with 3 A’s cannot get into the public university, whereas one with 3 C’s can do the same course in a private one. That I fear is a valid point that needs to be debated, but currently they go overseas.

On the other hand, employers are wise to the employability of graduates, and for that purpose, the University, private or public is on notice to produce what the market requires. If their quality is poor, then fewer students of quality will want entrance at that institution. What better way to weed out the good from the bad? The bad if it does not improve their performance will have to close down, just like so many schools in the rural areas.

I am not too concerned about the quality of the Private Universities as it is up to the entrant to do the necessary homework to check on their suitability in terms of repute before seeking admission. So this usual complaint by students opposed to the private sector can easily be relegated to one that is superfluous. Of course the state will in its Bill propose a means of ensuring quality control. Why this is necessary is beyond me as students attend so many private universities overseas, without them having to be regulated by anybody, least of all from Sri Lanka.

The main point which I would therefore raise is the guaranteed amount of free places available to local students, so that a minimum cost would have to be borne by the state for their education, anything less will be tantamount to an abrogation of the rights under the Free Education promise.

A further guarantee of a limit to the paying students should also be made, as the government now intends to get paying students to the State University sector to subsidize its cost. I do not know why they have restricted it to overseas students. Is it because they want them to pay their fees in foreign currency?

Further, I understand that minimum percentages of places must be offered at Private Universities as scholarships to students who excel on some criteria, this too should be included so that the quality of the intake at these places is also improved.

All agitation should be limited to what is reasonable in light of current conditions without compromising Free Education principle for the masses in as much as it is applicable today bearing in mind the amount of private tertiary education available.

The ‘Complete Mess’ in the published A level result – just issued

The disgrace of a Government that issued incorrect A level results last morning knows no boundary as the fallout MUST result in the rolling of heads!! Beginning with the Minister responsible, namely the Minister of Higher Education, under whom the Commissioner General of Examinations operates. The latter and the Secretary to the Minister of Higher Education are now entangled in a fight as to how to resolve the issue, who to take responsibility and realistically reject the results and reissue them once they have identified and rectified the problem.

It appears that by design or by coincidence there has been some internal computer glitch that resulted in a wholesale issue of results, that have nothing to do with reality, causing untold misery heartache, and breakdown amongst a whole host of young people who have been awaiting their A level results with anticipation and trepidation. For them to be fooled by a cruel joke of this magnitude, without first being spot checked for accuracy is an indication of the incompetence of the officials handling this area.

I am given to understand that a new Commissioner General of Examinations will take office on the 1st of January 2012, and in that regard the present holder of that office will be retiring. Is this a parting gift from him as he has nothing to lose? I wonder if we will know the answer to that. If he has some grudge against the Minister he is more than capable of putting his minister in the spot. However I seem to have seen that the Minister in his manner of making light of things is proclaiming a computer ‘gilmart’ for the fracas and refuses to accept blame.

From what I understand at the point of writing, that the Z scores as it relates both to country and district rankings have been rejected, but not the overall results. Even here I believe there are anomalies as there are many students who have results for subjects they did not answer at the examination throwing coals into the already raging fire. It is time that the whole result is immediately withdrawn.

The President had forcibly intervened and asked the Commissioner General of Elections(CGE) to release the results, even though he had expressed some concern over some of the bases of calculation of the Z scores as there are two sets of syllabuses, whose results are released. So now it is a black mark on the President’s edicts too as one could blame him for interfering in a process that is none of his business. It is up to the CGE to determine when he is ready to release and not the Head of State. It is time someone takes responsibility and the Media fairly criticize this action, so the General Public can be made aware of the MESS in the first place

Senior Ministers – Who are they and what do they do for an extra Rs300M?

Sri Lanka has in its own unique way created a category of Minister from TEN aged MPs known as seniors who have been given responsibilities over and above those allocated to MP’s. The extra cost is in addition to the cost of an MP that include income, allowances, perks along with the 24hr MSD security that comes with it.

I believe it is an unnecessary and superfluous expense where the money could easily be spent in more productive ways to improve the economy. It is a way to give jobs to their staff which amount to about 275, many who are relatives and friends of the same ministers. The rough breakdown is approximately Rs20M per minister and a further Rs100M to keep the Administrative Secretariat functioning.

The vision statement is ‘Sustainable National Development’ and the mission statement is ‘Co-ordinating and monitoring National Development Initiatives’ which are: 1 Good Governance and Infrastructure – Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
2 Human Resources – DEW Gunesekara
3 Rural Affairs – Athauda Seneviratne
4 Food Security – P Dayaratne
5 Urban Affairs – AHM Fowzie
6 Social Welfare – Milroy Fernando
7 Consumer Welfare – RMSB Navinne
8 National Resources – Piyasena Gamage
9 Scientific Affairs – Tissa Vitharana
10 International Monetary Cooperation – Sarath Amunugama

I let the reader judge what on earth we want to spend this amount for this kind of semantic exercise, when we have other priorities. I also wished to make the readers aware of this particular exercise in futility, as it is usually hidden from view. Another point of note is that while DEW Gunesekara was the chairman of the COPE committee looking into the expenditure of the public sector institutions, it does not come under the above criteria and is external to the above terms of reference. That in itself requires the full extent of a MPs time to wade through the smoke and mirrors, that one would not find time to add another responsibility called ‘Human Resources’ to him as shown above.

I know this is just a start of my investigation into the billions of waste of Government Expenditure, that our kids have to repay in the future as much of it is funded out of Debt when these erstwhile seniors have long left mother earth to places beyond, bless their souls and curse their silence. A suggestion, how about giving this function to opposition MPs, they can do a stellar job of overseeing!!!

Strike by the Private Bus Owners Association is imminent over route permits

The haphazard and highly politicized distribution of route permits causes enormous friction within the industry. In another example of the manner in which these route permits are distributed, sold, bribed away and auctioned, once again it has caused a problem leading to this action, in a very competitive industry. Not only do these operators have to compete with the state bus service SLTB which as we are told, is about to increase its fleet by leaps, and which is highly subsidized having on average 8 workers on the payroll for each bus that is roadworthy. The distribution on non-market criteria is a cause for dissatisfaction.

Put yourself in the shoes of a private bus operator. You have to face many severe allegations. One of overcrowding, of racing to catch the next customer, of treating the customers like cattle and being rude to them, permitting panhandling in the buses for a fee or a percentage of the takings and if that was not enough they have to bribe the minister to get the permits they want or even challenge the threat of losing the license over a non-existent or manufactured transgression.

Into all this comes the granting of route permits without due consideration to the supply and demand issues as well as the times allotted for the various buses both to provide a smooth service at regular intervals and be fair in the allocations so that a balance of peak and non peak services can be shared around. This is nevertheless a very thorny issue with no clear way of coming out with an acceptable compromise.

The government has masterfully led public opinion to the faults of the PBOA and not of the benefits of these buses. I do believe that 80% of the buses on the road are Private. So its contribution to passenger transport at reasonable cost is huge. Instead of using more SLTB buses to compete, the state should encourage more private buses, without recourse to selling route permits except to auction them under transparent procedures on certain routes that are particularly in demand.

I have advocated for a two tier fare structure on local routes for before 6pm and after so that the night traveler will also be better served, something the private sector at present has not been permitted to do. The state sector buses which are few and far between are asked to fill in the discrepancy in the later hours.

I believe that there is not enough research into optimizing the formula for the benefit of the public. I would like to see timetables using counting data under the auspices of the transport ministry, so that bus passengers are better served. This will hopefully take more people from personal transport into public transport.