Abstract

The relationship between school geography and academic geography has been an area of interest of increasing importance among geographers. The present study based on an online survey involving school geography teachers as well as academic geographers in Sri Lanka, reveals that the relationship between them has been dominated by the desire to obtain and provide substantive knowledge. This has been mainly due to the highly competitive nature of the government-conducted Advanced Level Examination which selects the entrants to the university.  The lack of attention to disciplinary knowledge, however, has deprived students of an opportunity to be able to think geographically. This has adversely affected not only the image of geography as a discipline in the school curriculum but also the resourcefulness and employability of the school leavers as well as the geography graduates. The root cause of this state of affairs lies with academic geography mainly due to the compartmentalized and fragmented nature of the undergraduate education. The credit-based course unit system of teaching in universities has contributed to the horizontal disintegration of the discipline.

Keywords: Disciplinary knowledge, factual knowledge, fragmentation, course unit system, academic geography, school geography

K. A. P. Siddhisena

Abstract

Demography is a pivotal discipline in the Social Sciences to understand the size, growth and composition of population, and population dynamics of fertility, mortality, and migration which affect the socio-economic development and wellbeing of the people in a country. Demography and Population Studies are closely associated disciplines which are rooted in and have sprawled across the field of Social Sciences to understand the broad spectrum of the Demographic discipline. Demography is also considered a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field and therefore it is a lucrative discipline not only as a Social Science discipline but also as a discipline that has progressed into other fields in Natural Sciences, Medicine, Health Sciences, and Public Health. Demography is related to other disciplines in the Social Sciences such as Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Sociology, Political Science, and Psychology. With the establishment of the Demographic Training and Research Unit (DTRU), Demography as a Social Science discipline was established within the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo in 1973 to initiate teaching, training, and research in the fields of Demography and Population Studies. In 1997, the DTRU was upgraded as a fullfledged department to expand its training and research programmes. Demography has become an applied discipline in several other Universities in Sri Lanka as well. At present, Demography is being accepted by academicians, planners, policymakers, and by administrators as an important discipline in the Social Sciences.

Keywords: Demography, Multidisciplinary, Population, Social Sciences

C.M. Madduma Bandara

Abstract

In ancient Sri Lanka, the emergence of the three cardinal regional Divisions of Ruhunu, Maya, and Pihiti, signified some socio-historical compulsions for regional governance. However, when the centralised government had become weakened due to historical vicissitudes, as in medieval times, numerous small subkingdoms appeared across the Island. The British colonial process of regional governance, commenced with the Colebrook Commission established in 1832. Thus, the first major step in provincial administration taken by the colonial rule was in 1833 with the abolition of the service tenure system (Rajakariya or the duty by the King) and the general administration of Kandyan areas. In 1832, Five regional units were set up, based simply on cardinal directions, namely, the Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern, and the Central Provinces. The present structure of the nine existing Provinces, to which attempts have been made to devolve powers of governance in recent times under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, were in fact, created over 133 years ago (1889) during the heyday of colonial rule, for its own geopolitical advantage. It is argued that the nine existing Provinces into which powers have now been devolved for regional governance under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, are archaic, irrational, and wasteful as they were created during the colonial era under a different historical context. The present network of spatial administrative structures in Sri Lanka is also characterized by a chaotic and confusing array of Divisions, Zones, and Ranges that are mostly inherited from colonial days. These divisions are not necessarily compatible or coterminous with each other. The proposal made here, therefore attempts to demonstrate the feasibility of re-establishing a threefold regional structure for Sri Lanka, based broadly on the ancient Divisions of Ruhunu, Maya, and Pihiti. It is contended that if the proposal is implemented, it may bestow numerous advantages and bring some long-term stability to the Country. Among others, it may contribute to national security and long-term political stability, support economic progress, promote co-existence and national harmony, increase efficiency in the conservation of natural endowments of land, water and biota, and facilitate more effective planning to mitigate natural disasters. A smaller number of larger regions will make them economically strong and viable entities, with their own earnings, expanded markets, and abilities to invest in larger projects, reflecting some economies of scale. New Regions will ensure greater integrity and conservation of National Parks, Forest Reserves and other needs of conservation and would also be helpful in managing problems like humanelephant conflicts more efficiently.

Keywords: ancient regions, colonial provinces, cost, chaos and burden on treasury, three larger regions in place of nine, merits of the proposal, a new regional map for Sri Lanka

S.R.S.D.K. Weerawansa, T.U. Hewage

Abstract

This paper focuses on students’ perception of the effectiveness of online vs onsite learning within two faculties (Arts and Science) of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the results of this study are compared to those of similar studies conducted in several other countries. The research problem addressed in this study is: What is the impact of ICT knowledge, digital infrastructure, classroom environment, and policy support on undergraduates’ perception of online teaching and learning? The primary data for the study was collected using a structured questionnaire. The objective of the questionnaire was to measure the impact of ICT knowledge, digital infrastructure, classroom environment, and policy support on undergraduates’ perception of online teaching and learning. A questionnaire was made available through an online platform to two hundred undergraduates of the two faculties, Arts and Science, of the University of Colombo, and the one hundred eighty (180) responses received were analysed using SPSS. The neutrality of the impact of ICT knowledge, digital infrastructure, classroom environment, and the policy framework on the participants’ perception of the online teaching/learning process can be interpreted as the non-existence of a significant difference between online and onsite classes. However, the additional comments provided by the same respondents at the end of the questionnaire indicate opinions contradictory to the above finding.

Keywords: Online Learning, Classroom Environment, Digital Infrastructure, Policy Structure, Impact on Performance

T. A. M. Pushpakumara

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on the education sector in Sri Lanka. During the pandemic, Sri Lankan universities resorted to online platforms to continue teaching. Undergraduates had online lectures and sat online open-book examinations. The Faculty of Arts (FoA), University of Colombo conducted the final examination of semester I as an onsite closed-book examination and the final examination of semester II as an online open-book examination for the first-year undergraduates in the academic year 2020/2021. The objective of this study is to identify the impact of the mode of examination on the performance of the first-year undergraduates at the FoA. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. Secondary data were collected from three departments of the FoA selected randomly. Primary data were collected from the selected undergraduates through a telephone survey. Paired sample T test is applied as the main analytical tool of this study. The findings show that the average mark of the onsite examination is significantly higher than the average mark of the online examination. According to the undergraduates’ opinions, the main reason for the low performance at the online examination was the teaching-learning environment they had during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Online teaching, Online examination, Open-book examination, Onsite examination, Performance.

S. Abeyratne

Abstract

This paper is aimed at an investigation into the sources of current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and to outline a policy approach to the way forward. The crisis has built up slowly from the country’s anti-export bias growing over the past 20 years. Its last episode ended with the collapse was triggered by a series of external shocks and domestic policy issues during 2020-2021. Sri Lanka presents a classic example of a “twin-deficit” economy with growing policy bias against exports along with an unsustainable economic growth from the debt-financed non-tradable sector. In the absence of a sustainable growth momentum from the tradable sector, there was growing foreign exchange imbalances even though foreign exchange was needed for financing the country’s growing imports and maturing foreign debt. The paper concludes that Sri Lanka has a policy need not only to recover from the crisis but also to ensure an export-led progressive growth path beyond the crisis.

Keywords: Economic crisis, Foreign exchange crisis, Debt crisis, Sri Lanka

This book provides several ‘success secrets.’ The introduction follows a description of young and successful people and their accomplishments. Further, it teaches how to assess individual capacity, how to build a vision for an ‘ideal life,’ and how to write a grand plan. A lot of emphasis is given to “stimulators” which are the key factors that help to achieve the “ideal life” (Kushnell & Kaufman, 2003, p. 19).

L.L.M. Madushani, M.A.Y.D. Madurapperuma 

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the determinants of unemployment in Sri Lanka over a period of 1990-2020 by examining the empirical relationship among the unemployment, gross domestic product, inflation, foreign direct investment, population growth, and exports. A macroeconomic factor model is employed using the annual time series data. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach is used to test the relationship between the unemployment and its determinants. The study identifies that the gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, population growth, and export have significant impact on unemployment, while inflation shows to be having no significant explanatory power in
determining unemployment in the short run. In the case of the long-run relationship, the study finds that the gross domestic product, inflation, foreign direct investment, and population growth have a statistically significant explanatory power of unemployment, while exports show an insignificant result in the long run. The CUSUM and CUSUMQ show that the constructed ARDL model is stable within the 5% of critical bounds.

Keywords: Inflation, Gross Domestic Product, Export, Foreign Direct Investment, Population Growth

J.N.D. Jayathunga, P. G. Dikwaththa

Abstract

The continuous development of cities has created significant issues in the planning and management of an area’s environment and landscapes. This is due to the requirement for supported products such as housing, business facilities, infrastructure networks, and environmental protection. Decades of uncontrolled development have had a significant impact on both the natural environment and the quality of human life. The goal of this study is to examine the change in green cover owing to development over the last few years and to
estimate the development pressure index to ensure green cover in the Unawatuna-Rumassala area. Defining the development pressure to prioritise green cover in order to protect the Unawatuna-Rumassala region as an ecotourism destination. Based on the model builder methodology in ArcGIS, this study presents an improved way of analysing development pressure. The development pressure index focuses on finding areas that are prone to significant development pressure. The development pressure was identified using the following
criteria: accessibility, population density, building density, and land use and land cover. In 2009 and 2016,  Landsat satellite images were utilised to analyse the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which aids in identifying changes in green cover over time. The simulation findings demonstrate that NDVI levels have changed dramatically between 2009 and 2016. On elevated and low topographic slopes where human activity was prevalent, moderate NDVI values shifted to low NDVI values. Furthermore, development pressure has concentrated in the Rumassala protection zone, having a significant impact on the area’s ecosystem. The
increased development pressure in the studied area has also resulted in biodiversity deterioration.

Keywords: Development Pressure Index, Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Green cover, Urbanization, Urban Planning

Hettige, S.

Abstract

Sri Lanka’s post-independence social and political discourses have been dominated by issues connected with education, citizenship, national identity and economic development. This essay, based on some of the more recent social science research literature, provides a brief overview of the interconnections and interdependencies across the domains of education, citizenship and development. While much of the social science literature dealing with education, national identity and development have remained largely segmented, the analysis here is an effort to demonstrate how the three areas are closely interconnected. The essay also identifies the need to adopt evidence based public policies to bring about desired change. The key challenge is how to align education, national identity and development in order to achieve wider societal goals of national integration and inclusive and equitable development. Social science research has a critical role to play here, not only to inform social and political discourses on the above issues but also to guide the process of public policy making in the relevant sectors.  

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Keywords: education, citizenship, development, public policy, social justice, societal goals