Issues with regard to access to scientific and technical knowledge
There are three interrelated issues that adversely affect access to scientific and technical knowledge in Sri Lanka. These are knowledge dependency, low income levels and the dominance of the English language in knowledge dissemination. Before proceeding to examine these issues, it is necessary for us to understand what the term ‘access to scientific and technical knowledge’ means in the context of Sri Lanka.
For Sri Lanka, access to scientific and technical knowledge primarily means four things: the availability, affordability, timeliness and comprehensibility of scientific and technical knowledge. What is meant by ‘availability’ here is that scientific and technical knowledge is produced in sufficient quantities and that there are adequate scientific and technical knowledge products to meet the needs of people in Sri Lanka. ‘Affordability’ refers to the general financial ability of people in Sri Lanka to purchase scientific and technical knowledge products. ‘Timeliness’ means that scientific and technical knowledge products arc available for the use of the people in Sri Lanka instantaneously or within a reasonable time frame from their creation. ‘Comprehensibility’ mainly means that scientific and technical knowledge products needed by Sri Lankan people are available in the language/s in which Sri Lankans arc fluent. Thus it is important to bear in mind that any issue which adversely impacts on availability, affordability, timeliness, and
32 Translation and copyright in Sri Lanka comprehensibility of scientific and technical knowledge products will adversely affect access to scientific and technical knowledge in Sri Lanka. As noted earlier, the main problems that Sri Lanka encounters with regard to access to scientific and technical knowledge are knowledge dependency, low income levels, and the dominance of the English language in knowledge dissemination. Knowledge dependency in Sri Lanka primarily affects the availability and the comprehensibility of scientific and technical knowledge. The low income levels in Sri Lanka primarily impacts upon the affordability of scientific and technical knowledge. The dominance of the English language in knowledge dissemination primarily affects the comprehensibility of scientific and technical knowledge. 2.3.1. Knowledge dependency Sri Lanka does not produce sufficient knowledge in the field of science and technology to meet the needs of its people. As a result, Sri Lanka has to import scientific and technical knowledge products from developed countries which lead in the field of science and technology. In other words, Sri Lanka is dependent on developed countries for scientific and technical knowledge products. Sri Lanka is unable to produce sufficient scientific and technical knowledge products as a result of many factors. The most important of these are the aftereffects of European colonisation and the lack of local research and innovation. 2.3.1.1. European colonisation and its after-effects European colonial rule in Sri Lanka from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century linked Sri Lanka to the Western world. In particular, it replaced the existing political, economic, social and cultural landscape of Sri Lanka with transplanted Western systems and institutions. These changes benefited the interests of the colonial rulers, especially in their governance and administration of the country. Therefore, they were justified as a process of civilising the local population on the basis that the imposed Western systems and institutions were superior to those that existed. However, these transplanted systems and institutions had a devastating impact on the indigenous knowledge production systems in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the newly introduced Western systems and institutions needed Western knowledge for their proper functioning. This need was largely catered through Western knowledge production systems rather than creating independent knowledge production systems in Sri Lanka. The result of this was that Sri Lanka became increasingly dependent on Western knowledge and Western knowledge production systems. From 1505 to 1948, Sri Lanka was under the colonial rule of three European nations: the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. European colonisation in Sri Lanka started with the Portuguese intrusion in 1505.
1
See KM de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka (C Hurst, 1981) 100.
centre of the country was still ruled by the local kings. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Portuguese were expelled from Sri Lanka by the Dutch, who later established their rule in the maritime regions of the country. The Dutch rule gave way to the British in 1796, and in 1802 the former Dutch possessions in Sri Lanka became the ‘British Crown Colony of Ceylon’.[1] In 1815, the British conquered the centre of Sri Lanka by defeating the local king, and thenceforth the entire country became a British colony until it was granted independence from Britain in 1948.
The British rule in Sri Lanka was a period that saw an overall change in the economic and sociopolitical characteristics of the country. The effect of many of these changes was that Sri Lanka became linked to the Western world. KM de Silva noted:
Because of the rapid shrinkage of the world in the nineteenth century, Sri Lanka would have faced westernisation anyway, but the British, in fact, deliberately started the process in the 1830s after some hesitation in the early years of their rule in the island.
Westernisation that was started by the British in Sri Lanka overturned the systems and institutions that were already in place in Sri Lanka. A complicated new economic structure based on free trade and a laissez-faire approach was introduced, replacing the simple economy based on subsistence agriculture. A democratic government, which upheld constitutionalism and human rights, was gradually implemented in lieu of a monarchy. English law was introduced in many matters of trade and commerce, including copyright, patents and trademarks. English became the dominant language, marginalising the status and importance of the local languages. The education system became completely aligned with the West. These changes had a huge impact in terms of making Sri Lanka dependent on the developed countries of the West for knowledge. This can be explained in relation to the changes that took place in Sri Lanka’s economic structure and the education system as a result of colonisation and westernisation.
2.3.1.1.1. CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY
Changes in the economic structure of Sri Lanka, especially those that took place during British rule, had a devastating impact on the country’s indigenous knowledge base. Amarasuriya and Witharana observed:
The plantation economy that was established during the colonial times dramatically changed the entire social, economic and political landscape of the
country handicapping the knowledge base available for innovation in the pre-colonial Sri Lanka.[2] Prior to European colonisation, Sri Lanka had a less complicated, closed economic system that was based on agriculture for consumption needs.
The advanced irrigation systems built during the hydraulic civilisation in ancient Sri Lanka (300 BC-1200 AD) also highlight the nature and extent of the developed status of scientific and technical knowledge that Sri Lanka possessed at the time. According to Brohier:
Extensive works of irrigation [in ancient Sri Lanka], secured with an immense amount of labour, skill and science had transformed arid plains to areas of plentiful prosperity' at a period when agriculture in Europe was in the rudest and most primitive state.
Although the fall of the hydraulic civilisation in the thirteenth century may have had an adverse impact on the stock of scientific and technical knowledge in Sri Lanka, particularly in the field of irrigation, the indigenous knowledge systems
in precolonial Sri Lanka were still sufficient to meet the needs of its economy, which was based on subsistence agriculture. The indigenous knowledge creation systems in precolonial Sri Lanka were linked with ‘Rajakariya'—the traditional compulsory service system and the caste system.[3] MU De Silva observed, 'Rajakariya was the mechanism which combined land tenure and the caste services for the state and the well-being of the community.’
The era of European colonisation, particularly British rule, saw dramatic changes to the economic structure of Sri Lanka. One of the most fundamental changes that took place during British rule was the transformation of the Sri Lankan economy into a market economy based on the concept of a laissez-faire state. The laissez-faire market economy was seen as an essential requirement to further British interests in Sri Lanka, particularly to promote the trade in plantation crops. The British administration saw the Rajakariya system as ‘an obstacle to the free movement of labour, and to the creation of a land-market, both of which were vitally important in the establishment of the laissez-faire [market economy]’. As a result, they abolished the Rajakariya system in 1833, following the recommendation of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, which was appointed by the British Government to inquire into the administration of the government, revenues and the judicial establishments and procedure in Sri Lanka.
The abolition of Rajakariya had a stifling effect on the growth and dissemination of traditional knowledge in Sri Lanka. It adversely affected the existing system of work specialisation through the caste system and thus the creation of new traditional knowledge.[4] It also affected the dissemination of traditional knowledge, because the free movement of labour meant that there was less scope for transferring that knowledge between generations.
Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain in 1948 did not necessarily bring about changes in the economic structure implemented by the British. The same was true for many other former British colonies in South and Southeast Asia. Moreover, at the time of Sri Lanka’s independence, its economic structure was on the verge of a crisis. KM de Silva noted:
The crux of the problem was that foreign income which ‘directly or indirectly constituted the bulk of the national income began to fall rapidly’, while there was a rise in the cost of imports. This was reflected in the country’s balance of payments, which fell consistently from ‘a handsome surplus in 1945 to a heavy deficit in 1947’. ‘For a country which practically lives by foreign trade,’ . . . ‘no economic indices could be more significant. It represented a fall in national income and a march towards greater poverty and insecurity’.
Thus, pursuant to its independence, economic development surfaced as the biggest hurdle for Sri Lanka, and promoting access to scientific and technical knowledge became crucial in this connection. The result of this was the increasing dependence of Sri Lanka on the developed countries for access to scientific and technical knowledge.
2.3.1.1.2. CHANGES IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Another important transformation that took place during British rule in Sri Lanka was the introduction of a new education system based on the Western (British) model of education. As will be seen in the ensuing discussion, this made Sri Lanka
Translation and copyright in Sri Lanka 37 dependent on scientific and technical knowledge produced in developed countries for educational purposes. The formal education system that existed in precolonial Sri Lanka was not necessarily linked to science and technology. CR de Silva noted: The traditional education system was . . . fashioned and controlled by the religious order and education generally was regarded as a means of religious edification. Education imparted at the temple had a strong academic or literary bias. On the other hand, technical skills such as those needed to construct the ancient irrigation reservoirs and canals were transmitted from generation to generation, either by traditional instruction given by father to son or by craft apprenticeships, both outside the system of temple instruction.[5] Formal education in precolonial Sri Lanka was restricted to members of the elite class, who were limited in numbers.
Until the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the British administration in Sri Lanka had no coherent policy on education. Neither was education regarded as a ‘service normally provided by the state’. However, with the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations on education in 1832, ‘State intervention in education . . . assumed a regular and definite form.’ Despite that, the British education policy in Sri Lanka predominantly addressed the needs and interests of the colonial rulers rather than those of Sri Lankans.
The objective of the system of education introduced in Sri Lanka by the British was not to produce a well-informed and literate public. Instead, it was designed to create an elite class, limited in number, which would assist the rulers in matters
of local administration and other related affairs.[6] To implement this objective, the general education system was designed in two forms: (1) English education, which catered to a narrow elite class and (2) vernacular education, which catered to the general masses. What is important to note here is that neither the English nor the vernacular education systems facilitated the production and diffusion of indigenous knowledge in the country.
Since English education provided the most effective mechanism for access to Western knowledge, it was able to produce a set of people who could easily connect with the Western world. Because of this, English-educated people were able to receive special privileges, such as better employment and higher education prospects. As a result, the general conception among the people in Sri Lanka was that English education was superior to vernacular education. Thus, English education became an important aspiration of almost everyone in the country.
Although English education was in great demand among the local population in Sri Lanka, the objective of the British administration was to limit the number of people who were educated in English. Thus, there were significant obstacles to access to English education, the main obstacle being the tees charged, and English education became a privilege which was confined to a small fraction of the local population. This created a severe imbalance with regard to people’s access to Western knowledge. This, in turn, affected people’s prospects of being connected with the Western world. The result of this was that English education became a major factor that created economic and social inequality within the Sri Lankan population.
With the constitutional reforms in the 1930s that augmented local representation in the government of colonial Sri Lanka, the economic and social inequality
Translation and copyright in Sri Lanka 39 created by the English and vernacular education systems was identified as a severe drawback.[7] Thus, the government appointed a Special Committee on Education in 1940 to ‘investigate the defects of the present educational system and to recommend measures of reform necessitated by the changed conditions’.
2.3.1.2. Lack of research and innovation
Research and innovation is an important knowledge production mechanism. Lack of research and innovation is a major factor which affects scientific and technical knowledge production in Sri Lanka.
Two indicators that are commonly used to measure the level of research and innovation in the field of science and technology are the journal articles published and the patents registered. The status of these indicators with regard to Sri Lanka is not impressive. According to the 2015 Sri Lanka Science, Technology & Innovation Statistical Handbook (2015 STI Handbook) published in 2018, the number of publications by Sri Lankan scientists in the Science Citation Index (SCI) journals for the year 2015 was only 396, of which 83.6 percent had been co-authored with foreigners. In a study which analyses the performance of Sri Lanka’s science and technology as reflected in their publications output during 2001-2010 (based on the publication data derived from the Scopus citation database), Gupta notes that Sri Lanka produced 5,301 papers during the period under study.
However, this only amounted to a global publication share of 0.030 percent.[8] In a study which looks into the historical development of scholarly journal publishing in Sri Lanka from 1845 to 2010, Yapa finds that despite the steady increase in the number of scholarly journals published locally during this period, Sri Lanka published only 114 journals in 2010.
When considering the local output of scholarly scientific and technical journals in Sri Lanka, one needs to be mindful of the quality of these journals. In particular, a national survey report on publishing scientific and technical journals in Sri Lanka published in 1987 raised a number of serious issues about the quality of the locally published journals and their contents. Firstly, many journals published in Sri Lanka failed or neglected to adhere to international standards, which render these journals of substandard quality. Secondly, many journals were published irregularly or had suspended publication due to lack of material. Thirdly, some journals had ‘a low article/journal ratio’ and there was a marked difficulty in obtaining articles. Fourthly, more than one-half of the journals lacked quality contributions.
The position in relation to published journal articles is similar with regard to patent registrations in Sri Lanka. According to the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka, the total number of patent registrations for the year 2019 was only 175, out of which 136 were registered by non-residents. Sri Lankan residents had only 39 patents registered for the year 2019. The total number of patent registrations in Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2019 was 4,013. Of this figure, 2,720 were registered by non-residents and only 1,293 have been registered by residents of Sri Lanka.
2.3.1.2.1. FACTORS AFFECTING RESEARCH AND INNOVATION Many factors have affected research and innovation in Sri Lanka, the most important being the lack of human capital and inadequate investment in research and innovation.[9] Lack of human capital severely affects research and innovation in Sri Lanka, particularly in the field of science and technology. There is a marked shortage of experts, such as research scientists and technicians, in this field. The major contributing factors to this situation are the shortcomings in the Sri Lankan university education system and the brain drain. The university education system in Sri Lanka does not adequately cater to the human capital requirements of a knowledge economy. Perera and Dasanayaka stated that ‘[e]ven though Sri Lankan universities provide valuable human capital for the country’s technology development, their contribution is at a lower level compared to other developing and newly industrialised countries’.
Secondly, local universities are too heavily focused on non-science and non-technical disciplines. As the UNDP’s 2012 Sri Lanka Human Development Report noted, ‘[t]he study areas of Sri Lanka’s undergraduates reveal a heavy concentration on Arts and Management’. In 2009, only 21 percent
of undergraduates were studying engineering and mathematics, compared to 42 percent in Singapore which is ‘ranked as one [of] the world’s most scientifically oriented countries’.[10] The lower output of graduates in the science and technology field compared to arts and management affects the amount of skilled human resources available for research and innovation in the field of science and technology. Thirdly, the capacity of the university education system in Sri Lanka ‘is inadequate and it serves only a very small proportion of the population. In 2009, only 3.6 percent of 20-24-year-olds were enrolled in a university’.
As UNESCO’s 2010 World Science Report noted, ‘brain drain’ is a serious issue that affects scientific research in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has experienced a considerable loss of human capital because of brain drain. In particular, the 2004 National Survey of Research and Development by the Sri Lankan National Science Foundation (published in 2007) found that ‘the total number of economically active scientists [in Sri Lanka] has decreased substantially from 13,286 in 1996 to 9,746 in 2004. The number of technicians also has decreased from 14,514 in 1996 to 12,302 in 2004’. This survey also noted that the brain drain ‘can be identified as one of the main reasons for the decline in the number of scientists shown in [the] survey’ because ‘there is a considerable number of scientists and scientific professionals leaving the country annually for better job prospects, working conditions, recognition and more stable socio-economic environments’. Apart from these reasons, better access to scientific and technical knowledge in developed countries is also another reason for the brain drain from Sri Lanka to these countries.
Sri Lanka also suffers from a lack of investment in research and innovation, especially in the field of science and technology, as well as in education. This directly hinders research and innovation activities, and it also limits the building of human capital that is required for these activities. According to the 2015 STI Handbook, the gross expenditure on research and development in Sri Lanka for the year 2015 was only 0.11 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is in comparison with 1.70 percent in Britain, 2.88 percent in Germany and 2.79 percent in the United States for the same year.
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the government expenditure on education for the year 2013 was about 1.58 percent of the GDP. In 2018, this
Translation and copyright in Sri Lanka 43 figure was 1.85 percent.[11] A World Bank study noted, referring to the figure in 2013, ‘[t]his is one of the lowest shares of public investment among countries.’
The insufficient investment in education in Sri Lanka has adversely impacted on its research and innovation, particularly in the field of science and technology. The lack of investment in education has severely restricted the production of human capital required for research and innovation in this field. It has also adversely affected the quality of the human capital so produced. In particular, because of the insufficient investment in education, there is a lack of teachers and other required resources for learning in Sri Lankan schools. Alarmingly, ‘[o]nly 10 percent of secondary schools have facilities to teach advanced science streams’. This has severely limited the number of students qualifying for science and technical education. The other outcome of the lack of investment in education is the substandard quality of education. The 2012 Sri Lanka Hitman Development Report noted, ‘Both poor facilities and resource constraints have spurred a decline in the quality of education.’ All these adversely impact on ‘skills development programmes and the training of engineers and scientists’ required for the production of scientific and technical knowledge.
2.3.2. Low income levels
Low purchasing power resulting from low income levels in Sri Lanka affects the affordability of scientific and technical knowledge products that are produced in developed countries. Given that Sri Lanka lacks sufficient knowledge production (and knowledge products) in the field of science and technology, it needs to import scientific and technical knowledge products from overseas. However, these knowledge products come with a price that is often unaffordable to Sri Lanka. Insufficient investment in education resulting from low GNP and GDP levels affects the purchasing power of educational institutions in Sri Lanka to acquire scientific and technical knowledge products. Amarasuriya and Witharana
observed that the annual budget for the year 2009 for the library of the Open University, which is one of the main State universities in Sri Lanka, was only Sri Lankan Rupees (SLRs)l million (roughly USS 7,700).[12] The low level of GDP per capita (which is about US$ 3,853) also affects the purchasing power of people in Sri Lanka to obtain scientific and technical knowledge products. 2.3.3. Dominance of English in knowledge dissemination The dominance of the English language in the dissemination of knowledge products affects the ability of the people in Sri Lanka to understand these products. Since most of the knowledge products in the field of science and technology are produced and disseminated in English, the language barriers deprive Sri Lankan students of access to these knowledge products. English dominates in the publication of scientific and technical knowledge products, not only overseas but also in Sri Lanka. As the 1987 national survey report on publishing scientific and technical journals in Sri Lanka pointed out, all the science and technology journals that were being published in Sri Lanka at that time were published in English. Indeed, there were no primary research journals published in the national languages of the country.
Despite this, English is not a generally used language in Sri Lanka. One reason for this is the ethnic composition of Sri Lanka. In particular, the total population in Sri Lanka was about 21.8 million in 2019. There are three major ethnicities living in Sri Lanka, namely, Sinhalese, Tamils and Moors. According to the 2012 census, the Sinhalese, which form the majority ethnic group in Sri Lanka, make up 74.9 percent of the total population. Tamils and Muslims, which are the
Translation and copyright in Sri Lanka 45 minority ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, make up 15.3 percent and 9.3 percent of the total population respectively.[13] The three main ethnic groups in Sri Lanka widely use two local languages, namely, Sinhala and Tamil. While Sinhala is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, Tamil is the mother tongue of both Tamils and Moors. Sinhala is only used in Sri Lanka, whereas Tamil is also used in India.
English is also not the general language of education in Sri Lanka. This is especially so in schools and universities run by the government, which is the major provider of education in Sri Lanka. The reason for this is the education policy introduced by the British in Sri Lanka and the subsequent education policy which was implemented during the 1940s and 1950s to mitigate the injustice created by the British education policy. In particular, the education policy during British rule in Sri Lanka was not only unable to produce an educated public in the country but was also unsuccessful in creating widespread literacy in English, despite the fact that English was the official language of the country during that time. As observed earlier, this resulted in social and economic inequality, which was sought to be remedied by education reforms implementing the recommendations of the Special Committee of Education. Accordingly, these education reforms made education in English free of charge and open to all, while making Sinhala and Tamil languages the media of instruction in the primary classes of English schools. In post-primary classes, the medium could be either of these languages or English at the option of the school. Referring to these reforms, Ariyadasa noted: ‘[t]he most important change that resulted for the curriculum on the recommendations of the Special Committee was the change of the medium of instruction in the English schools.’ While ‘Sinhala and Tamil replaced English as the medium of instruction in grade 1 in 1945’ this ‘was progressively carried through grade 10 for most schools in 1954’. In 1957, Sinhala and Tamil were introduced in all schools for all subjects, and ‘thereafter to the higher senior secondary grades and
the university’.[14] The effect of these educational reforms was that local languages came to be widely used in education, including in the universities. The provision of education in local languages has remained an essential characteristic in the education policy of Sri Lanka to date. This is particularly the case in government schools. The effect of this is that Sri Lanka has ‘a highly literate population who, however, for no fault of theirs, have not been sufficiently motivated to acquire competency in English, so necessary for many vocations in life’.
Sri Lankan students’ lack of proficiency in English means that they do not have meaningful access to scientific and technical knowledge products published in English. Therefore, it is difficult for them to acquire the necessary scientific and technical knowledge and skills they need. Fernando noted: ‘[d]ue to the lack of adequate competency in English, secondary school children as well as university undergraduates have insufficient and inadequate reading and reference material in all scientific fields.’ Although, ‘[a] few text-books have been produced in the local languages to cater to this need’, ''these are grossly insufficient when one considers the wealth of material that is necessary for a complete education’. As a result, ‘[s]cience education in Sri Lanka at the secondary and tertiary levels . . . has therefore been adversely affected’.
- [1] Ibid., 210. 2 PE Peiris, Ceylon: The Portuguese Era: Being a History of the Island for the Period 1505-1658 (Tisara Prakashakayo, 2nd ed, 1992) v. 3 de Silva, above n 23, 479.
- [2] Harini Amarasuriya and Dileepa Witharana, ‘Conflicting Agendas: Implications of Intellectual Property Rights on Access to Knowledge in Education and Research’ (Paper presented at the 7th National Conference on Library and Information Science, Colombo, 25 June 2009) 4
- [3] See GC Mendis, Ceylon Under the British (Asian Educational Services, first published 1952, 2005 ed) 46-47. 2 MU De Silva, ‘Land Tenure, Caste System and the Rajakariya under Foreign Rule: A Review of Change in Sri Lanka under Western Powers, 1597-1832’ (1992-1993) 37 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka 1,1. 3 Chandima D Daskon, ‘Are Cultural Traditions Real “Assets” for Rural People? An Analysis from A Livelihood Perspective’ (2010) 10(3) Global Journal of Human Social Science 13,22. 4 See, e.g., CRde Silva, ‘Education’ in KM de Silva (ed), Sri Lanka: A Survey (University' Press of Hawaii, 1977)403. 5 See de Silva, above n 23, 246. 6 Ibid., 248 (emphasis added). 7 Ibid., 247-248.
- [4] See Mendis, above n 35, 55-56, 67. 2 For instance, when the new generation belonging to a particular caste embarked on a different profession than what was specific to that caste, there was no room for the older generation to transfer professional knowledge specific to that caste (traditional knowledge) to the new generation. At the same time, the older generation was reluctant to share traditional knowledge with members of the new generation when they did not belong to the same caste. 3 LA Wickremeratne, ‘The Economy in 1948’ in KM de Silva (ed), Sri Lanka: A Surrey (University Press of Hawaii, 1977) 131. 4 KM de Silva, ‘Introduction’ in KM de Silva (ed), Sri Lanka: A Survey (University Press of Hawaii, 1977) xi, xiii-xiv (emphasis added) (citations omitted).
- [5] de Silva, above n 36, 403. 2 For a more detailed account of the formal education system in precolonial Sri Lanka, see, for instance, JE Jayasuriya, Educational Policies and Progress During British Rule in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1796-1948 (Associated Educational Publishers, 1977) 1-23. 3 Ceylon, Royal Commission to Examine and Report upon the Present State of the Laws, Regulations and Usages in the Settlements of the Cape of Good Hope and the Island of Mauritius and Ceylon, Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Colebrooke, One of His Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry, upon the Administration and Government of Ceylon (1831) 32. 4 de Silva, above n 23, 252. 5 Ibid., 253. 6 KD Ariyadasa, The Curriculum Development Centre of Sri Lanka (UNESCO, 1977) 1.
- [6] WA Wiswa Warnapala, The Making of the System of Higher Education in Sri Lanka: An Evaluative Study (2011) ii-iv. 2 See especially Sandagomi Coperahewa, ‘Colonialism and Problems of Language Policy: Formulation of a Colonial Language Policy in Sri Lanka’ (2011) 1(1) Sri Lanka Journal of Advanced Social Studies 27,45. 3 AS Canagarajah, ‘Dilemmas in Planning English/Vernacular Relations in Post-Colonial Communities’ (2005) 9(3) Journal of Sociolinguistics 418,422. 4 Special Committee on Education, Report of the Special Committee on Education, State Council of Ceylon Sessional Paper XXIV (1943) 10. 5 Ibid., 22. 6 Ralph Pieris, Social Development and Planning in Asia (Shakti Malik Abhinav Publications, 1976)239. 7 See, e.g., Warnapala, above n 52, vi-vii. 8 See KM de Silva, ‘The Transfer of Power in Sri Lanka—A Review of British Perspectives’ (1974) 4( 1&2) The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies 8.
- [7] See WD Rodrigo, ‘Copyright Law in the Digital Era: A Comparative Study of Sri Lanka, Australia and the United States’ (PhD Thesis, Universit}' of Queensland, 2007) 271 (citations omitted). 2 Special Committee on Education, Report of the Special Committee on Education, State Council of Ceylon Sessional Paper XXIV (1943) 9. 3 Ibid.,141. 4 Ibid., 35. 5 National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka Science, Technology & Innovation: Statistical Handbook 2015 (National Science Foundation, 2018) 41. 6 BM Gupta, ‘Sri Lanka S & T Output During 2001-2010: A Scientometric Assessment’ (2012) 17(3) Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science!*), 51.
- [8] Ibid. 2 Geetha Yapa, 'The Historical Development of Sri Lanka Scholarly Journal Publishing (1845-2010)’ (2011) 4(3&4) Sri Lankan Journal of Librarianship and Information Management
. 11 Ibid. - [9] It is important to note that in order to overcome these deficiencies, Sri Lanka needs to promote access to knowledge (particularly in the field of science and technology) more and more. In particular, building human capital requires upgrading and expanding education which in turn requires increased access to knowledge. Also, to increase investment of funds in research and innovation, Sri Lanka needs to promote economic growth, which in turn requires increased access to knowledge. 2 Chandana Perera and Sarath Dasanayaka, ‘Technolog}' Development: Key Issues in Productivity’ in Saman Kclegama (ed), Economic Policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and Debates (Sage Publications, 2004) 248-249. 3 UNESCO, IVor/rf Social Science Report 2010: Knowledge Divides (UNESCO, 2010) 80. 4 Ibid. 5 HPM Gunasena, ‘Universities Should Focus More on Researches Meant for Public Good’ The Island (online), 25 May 2014
. 6 Ibid. 7 UNDP, Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012: Bridging Regional Disparities for Human Development (UNDP, 2012) 75. - [10] Ibid. 2 Ibid. 3 UNESCO, above n 79, 6-7. 4 National Science Foundation, National Survey of Research and Development in Sri Lanka 2004 (National Science Foundation, 2007) 32 (emphasis added). 5 Ibid. See also UNESCO, above n 79, 7. 6 National Science Foundation, above n 64,4.
- [11] Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Socio-Economic Data 2019 (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2019)59. 2 Harsha Aturupane et al., ‘Sri Lanka: Investment in Human Capital’ (Report No 69, World Bank, 2014) 20. 3 Ibid., 19. 4 UNDP, above n 83, 67. 5 Ibid. 6 UNESCO, above n 79, 344. 7 See Susan Isiko Strba, International Copyright Law and Access to Education in Developing Countries: Exploring Multilateral Legal and Quasi-Legal Solutions (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012) 29.
- [12] Amarasuriya and Witharana, above n 27, 7. 2 Amarasuriya, above n 70, 56. 3 Ranasinghe, Perera and Abeygunasekara, above n 74. 4 JN Oleap Fernando, ‘Sri Lankan Experience in School Science Education’ (Proceedings of the Asian Regional IAP Seminar on the Generation of Experimental Materials and Learning Modules for Science Education, New Delhi, 24-25 October 2002)
- [13] Department of Census & Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2012 (Final Report, 2015) 141. 2 Sandagomi Coperahewa, ‘The Language Planning Situation in Sri Lanka’ (2009) 10(1) Current Issues in Language Planning 69, 78. 3 Central Intelligence Agency, The World Fact Book: Sri Lanka (18 May 2015)
. 4 See Harsha Aturupane et al., Transforming School Education in Sri Lanka: From Cut Stones to Polished Jewels (World Bank, 2011) 2. 5 Ralph Pieris, Social Development and Planning in Asia (Shakti Malik Abhinav Publications, 1976)241. 6 Jayasuriya, above n 47, 488. 7 Ariyadasa, above n 51, 3-4. 8 Ibid.,4. - [14] Ibid. 2 Fernando, above n 100. 3 Ibid., (emphasis added). 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.
