History of Eastern University, Sri Lanka

The idea of having a Tamil university on the lines of Hebrew University of Israel in the Eastern Province was mooted in 1960 by a group of professors who were teaching at the University of Ceylon. The project was started by purchasing land near Nilaveli, Trincomalee and was abandoned later due to lack of funds. The project was started again by K.W. Devanayakam, the former home minister of the UNP government with the collaboration of Kalpage, Minister of Higher Education during 1981.

The Eastern University, Sri Lanka, was established on 1 October 1986 by a University Order dated 26 September 1986 which was issued under Section 2 of the Universities Act No: 16 of 1978 by the Central Government. The university was preceded by the Batticaloa University College established on 1 August 1981. The Batticaloa University College was established to fill a long-felt need for the development of a higher education institution in the Eastern Province. Its establishment was recommended by a Committee appointed by the University Grants Commission headed by Professor V. Appapillai, retired professor of Physics and dean of Science, University of Peradeniya and included Professor R.S. Ramakrishna, Professor Y.D.A. Senanayake, Professor S.T. Fernando, S.H.M.Jameel and Dixon Nilaweera.

K.W.Devanayagam, who at the time was Member of Parliament for Kalkudah electorate and Minister of Justice, took a personal interest in the establishment of the Batticaloa University College. It was established in the premises of the Vantharumoolai Madhya Maha Vidyalayam, a school built by the late V. Nalliah, Minister for Posts and Telecommunication, Member of Parliament for Kalkudah electorate and Member of the Senate Council for Batticaloa North. The buildings had been badly damaged by a cyclone of 1978 and were repaired and progressively restructured to suit the purposes of a new University College. In addition, over 100 acres of land were added to the original campus. Student hostels and staff quarters have been constructed on this land and many new buildings are planned.

The Batticaloa University College began with two faculties: the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Agriculture. These faculties were affiliated to the University of Peradeniya. Professor S. Rajaratnam was appointed as the director of the college and he functioned in this capacity until February 1985. K. Rajendra functioned as the first secretary of the college. He was succeeded by P. Sangaravel in June 1983. Professor K.D. Arulpragasam was appointed as Professor S.Rajaratnam as director in April 1985. He successfully negotiated upgrading of the university college to an independent university and was appointed the first vice-chancellor, when the university came into being in October 1986. S.H.M. Jameel was appointed as the first registrar.

Two new faculties — the Faculty of Commerce & Management with the Departments of Economics, Commerce & Management, and the Faculty of Cultural Studies with the Departments of Arabic, Islamic Studies, and Fine Arts — were established in 1988. The Faculty of Cultural Studies was expanded to include the departments of Languages, Geography, and Social Science and renamed as Faculty of Arts & Culture in 1991.

The Trincomalee Campus was originally established as Trincomalee Affiliated University College (AUC) in April 1993 under ordinance No. 01 of 1993 by the Universities Act No.16 of 1978, section 24A. Then the Trincomalee Campus of the Eastern University was established from 15 June 2001 by a Gazette notification which was dated 6 June 2001.

The Swami Vipulananda College of Music and Dance (SVCMD) was established in 1981 by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Hindu Culture. Subsequently, the SVCMD was ceremonially handed over to the Ministry of Higher Education by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on 20 April 2001. It was affiliated with the Eastern University, Sri Lanka on 1 January 2002, and the University Grants Commission permitted EUSL to enroll diploma holders of the Swami Vipulananda College of Music and Dance for a degree programme in the Department of Fine Arts. Then the SVCMD was renamed as Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies and established by the Gazette Notification of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (No. 1392/22 of 3 June 2005) under the order made by the section 24 B of the University Act. No 16 of 1978.

The government of Sri Lanka has by Gazette notification dated 23 November 2005 established the Faculty of Health-Care Sciences[3] of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka. The initial programme conducted by the university in Human Health Sciences before the establishment of this faculty was the post basic diploma in Nursing. After the establishment of the faculty at Batticaloa in the silver jubilee year (2006) of the university, the first batch of students for Medicine were enrolled. The course commenced in June 2006. The first batch of students for BSc. Nursing was enrolled and the course was commenced in 2008.

In January 2011, the Minister of Higher Education came to the conclusion that the affairs of the Eastern University had been seriously squandered due to mismanagement and appointed a Competent Authority replacing the Council[4] of EUSL. The Competent Authority so appointed was Ranjith Arthenayake, who had been the vice-chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka[5] from 1994 to 2000.

The applications for the post of vice-chancellor was called in late 2011, and the selection was made in February 2012. It was expected Dr. Somasuntharam Sutharsan, who is an Eastern University product, would have succeeded to the chair of the vice-chancellor. Dr. Sutharsan was considered to be the favorite candidate of the local politicians. However, in February 2012,[6] Dr. Kiddnan Kobindarajah, who is an alumni of the Eastern University, was appointed as vice-chancellor on 5 March 2012. Dr Kobindarajah obtained his Ph.D in South Africa and then, due to political pressure arising from his personal beliefs/activities, he shifted to Canada to escape friction, and eventually became a naturalized Canadian citizen. Dr. Kobindarajah completed his term in office as the vice-chancellor on 4 March 2015 and Dr T. Jeyasingam took over as the new Vice-Chancellor. In a very difficult time for the institution – which was struggling to develop after the past decade of compulsive mismanagement – Dr. Jeyasingham operated somewhat ineffectively as the Vice Chancellor. His leadership has been criticized for actions of favoritism, nepotism and factionalism. It is noted that Dr. Jeyasingham's ardent use of official facilities and funds for personal purposes has been cited by many concerned well-wishers of the university. In January 2019, Professor. F.C. Ragel (a physicist attached to the Faculty of Science) – officially took over as the new vice chancellor replacing the former incumbent Dr. Jeyasingham.

Former vice-chancellors[7] of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka are:

Prof K D Arudpragasam (1986–1989)

Prof S Sandanam (1989–1995)

Prof G F Rajendram (1995–1998)

Dr. C Y Thangarajah, acting (1998–2000)

Prof M S Mookiah (2000–2004)

Prof (Dr.) S Raveendranath (2004–2006)

Dr. N Pathmanathan (2006–2010)

Dr K Premakumar, acting (2010 – March 2012 )

Dr. K Kobindarajah (March 2012 – March 2015 )

Prof (Dr.) T. Jayasingham (March 2015 – January 2019 )

Prof. (Dr.) F.C. Ragel (February - Up to date)

source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_University,_Sri_Lanka