Students at risk, and all campuses should be closed, says IUSF convener
The health of university students are at stake due to the lack of proper health and hygiene facilities at state universities, Inter University Students Fe d e r at i o n (IUSF) Convener Ve n . Rathkarawwe Jinarathana thera said.
He said a letter had been sent to t he Unive r s i t y G r a n t s Commission ( UGC) Chairman. In the letter it is mentioned that university students are more vulnerable to the COVID19 virus as state universities still do not have a mechanism to control the spread of the virus, the Thera told the Education Times.
He also said the authorities are not taking measures to temporarily close all state universities either. According to him, two students from the Sri Jayewardenepura University, one student from Kelaniya University, and parents of students attending the Open and Ruhuna Universities had tested positive for COVID.
“It is clear that many students and their close contacts are exposed to the virus. However, authorities are not taking this seriously. But if an outbreak in a university occurs this will be worse than the situation in a garment factory,” Jinarathana thera said.
He said university administrators had only put up posters about good hygiene practices, but had failed to increase hand washing facilities, improve sick rooms and ensure an adequate water supply and one metre distance in hostels, canteens and lecture rooms. He also said at present only the Kelaniya University and the Wickremaarachchi Ayurveda Institute had been closed, while other universities had halted academic activities but had allowed students to stay in the hostels if they needed to.
“When the Kelaniya campus was closed after a student was tested positive, all students were asked to go home. But no PCR tests were conducted. If students are in university premises, at least random PCR tests should be conducted. There are thousands of students within the state university premises, and no PCR tests had been conducted on the close friends of students infected with the virus,” the thera said.
UGC Chairman Sampath Amaratunge told the Education Times all universities had been instructed to make sure hand washing facilities were available, and physical distance maintained in places where students gather in large numbers.
“About 40 percent of university students left for their homes after the Minuwangoda COVID cluster was discovered. We have informed the universities to retain students, as they may be carriers of the virus, and they could infect people in their villages. While Government institutions are functioning, A/L students are sitting for exams and the public transport system is operating, there is no need to close all universities completely,” Prof. Amaratunge said.