Dr. Suren Raghavan, the State Minister of Higher Education, announced that efforts are underway to establish a national anti-freshman harassment committee to combat the issue during President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s term itself.
He made this announcement during a press conference held at the Government Information Department today (18).
The state minister expressed concern over the increasing incidents of bullying, revealing that in the past 12 months, 36 bullying incidents were reported, resulting in the suspension of 57 students. He emphasized that this is a matter of national shame and called for collective action.
Dr. Raghavan highlighted the need for structural institutions to address this issue and called upon university professors and Vice-Chancellors to take responsibility in curbing freshman harassment. He also mentioned specific incidents of violence and attacks related to bullying, emphasizing the urgency of addressing the problem.
He further noted that political parties and movements advocating violence are perpetuating this issue and affirmed the commitment of the President, Cabinet Minister Susil Premajayantha, and the Prime Minister to put an end to this problem during their tenure.
