Reopening of Jaffna University scheduled for mid February

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 01:14 GMT]
Acting Vice Chancellor (VC) of University of Jaffna Prof K.Kumaravadivel announced on Friday that preliminary arrangements have been completed for the reopening of the university in mid February, administrative officials at the Jaffna campus said.

The university was earlier scheduled to reopen on Jan 22 after remaining closed for nearly five months.

Difficulties encountered in compiling information about the undergraduates from other districts and arranging accommodation for them in private residences necessitated the postponement of the re-opening but these problems have been now resolved, the VC said.

Prof Kumaravadivel added that providing accommodation for the 800 out of district students was the main concern, since the owners of private houses were reluctant to rent them to the students due to fear of their own safety. However, now the arrangements have been made for the University administration to take over the responsibility of managing these houses. 400 of the students would reside within the campus while the rest would be provided accommodation in rented houses turned hostels, VC said.

Students from the eastern province , including those from Batticaloa and Ampara are also expected to return by ship, university sources said.

When the university was closed in August, the out of district students had to be transported out of the peninsula by ships amidst serious hardships.

The same means of transport will bring them back from Trincomalee and the co-operation of the security forces have been sought, VC added.

Lectures at Jaffna Campus were held irregularly after the altercation with campus students and the SLA during the early part of 2006, and the campus was completely closed after clashes broke out between the SLA and the Liberation Tigers on 11 August.