BY Pamodi WaravitaAll university academic staff will participate in a collective strike action today (28) by refraining from engaging in online teaching activities so as to demand that the Government withdraw the controversial General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill, the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) said yesterday (27). The FUTA said that today signifies the start of the national action against the militarisation and privatisation of education that will be brought about if the KNDU Bill passes into law in the Parliament. The Student and Mass Movement for Free Education signed a collective statement on 24 July, demanding that both the amendment by the gazette notification issued last week to the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978 as amended and the KNDU Bill be withdrawn immediately. A gazette notification issued by the Government on 21 July, stated that Section 23 of the Universities Act, No.

Source: The Nation July 27, 2021 17:37 UTC