A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, June 22, 2017
Administrative Malpractices Continue At Jaffna College Despite Fund Cuts By Trustees
Colombo Telegraph brought out several reports on
the protests launched by the students of Uduvil Girls’ College last
September against the ‘forced retirement’ of their former Principal Mrs.
Shiranee Mills and the violence unleashed on the students by a section
of the teachers and some others with close links to the Jaffna Diocese
of the Church of South India (JDCSI) headed by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel
Thiagarajah.
This
issue led to a campaign by the alumni and well-wishers of both Uduvil
Girls’ College and Jaffna College with a view to putting an end to the
authoritarian grip the leadership of the Church has on the
administration, finances and recruitment at both institutions. Based on
credible reports received after investigations, the Trustees of Jaffna
College Funds, a fiduciary trust based in Boston that supplies funds for
the running of both institutions, decided to reduce the
allocations for the first quarter of the year 2017 by 20% in January
and strictly requested the Boards of Directors of both institutions to
implement 9 key reforms before the 30thof June 2017 to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance in the administration of the schools.
Based
on two letters sent to the Bishop, who chairs the Boards of the two
schools, by the Trustees since their initial letter dated 5 January
2017, Colombo Telegraph can safely conclude that the Bishop has responded to the Trustees’ initial letter twice, first on the 12th of February and later, on the 15th of March. We covered the first response and the Trustees’ comments on it in our last report. This short commentary is about the subsequent developments.
As
we reported in our last commentary, the Trustees were not satisfied
with the Bishop’s first response which was not shared with anyone else
and insisted that they required a response from the Bishop before the
first deadline, the 30th of
March detailing the measures that the two Boards had taken to address
the concerns raised by the Trustees. The Trustees’ second response which
was sent on the 31st of March to the Bishop and shared with 19 others and the alumni notes that the Trustees received another letter from the Bishop on the 15th of
March 2017. The Trustees’ letter, overall, indicates that the Bishop’s
response and his plans to reform the two institutions have failed to
convince the Trustees. It states that they have decided to reduce the
funds allocated to both schools by 20% for the second quarter of the
year 2017 as well.
From the letter sent by the Trustees on the 31st of March, we are able to make the following observations about the content of the Bishop’s response dated 15 March 2017:
1.
The Bishop has along with his response sent drafts of the audited
financial statements for both schools and a mater plan for Jaffna
College,
But
the Trustees require (a) Final copies of these statements, (b) Comments
on the quality of the audit process, (c) management letter about
internal financial controls and related governance matters)
2.
The Bishop has responded to the Trustees’ comments on 8 areas of
reforms. But the Trustees are, for the most part, not satisfied with the
Bishop’s response. They have requested the Bishop to submit progress letters for items 2-9 before the 30th of
June. The Bishop has also been requested to include in the progress
letters what steps the two Boards have taken to meet the goals mentioned
and a date by which they commit to complete the process.
The
Trustees note that they are in general satisfied with the
qualifications of those who serve on the Board of Directors. But the
alumni of Jaffna College argue that it is important to see how many of
these qualified and experienced members can work independently and how
many of them can fearlessly challenge the leadership of the Board when
it makes decisions that are against the interests of the schools and
clear violations of standard administrative procedures. They also note
that these members of the Board have done nothing when unsuitable
persons were recruited for teaching positions at Jaffna College. Given
their complicity in past violations, these members no longer command the
confidence of the parents, alumni and well-wishers of the school, the
alumni note.