FORMING THE SRI LANKAN GRADUATE FOR TOMORROW

Abstract

Higher Education change/reform initiatives in much of the developed world in the nineties were due mainly to national policy initiatives that were a response to the demand for ‘employable’ graduates satisfying the requirements of the world of work. While such demands are fair, it is worth noting that ‘employability’ is a social construct in a given context and that while fitting into current requirements, graduates are expected also to be agents of innovation and change. The author accepts that the problem has been understood at least by some within the academia and industry and elements of solution identified, and suggests that the National Policy on University Education of 1996 was a major step forward. Proceeding then to inquire into why fundamental and system-wide reforms have not occurred so far, the author submits four postulates and suggests that if needed those can be transformed into hypotheses for future research. Arguing on the basis of the fourth postulate, the author proposes that a centrally-driven yet participatory reform effort is the appropriate way forward and presents an integrative framework by way of a model to guide judgment and action as well as a change strategy judged appropriate.

Keywords: Higher Education, Higher Education Reform, Relevance and Quality, Employability, Attributes of a Graduate

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk