Abstract:
Staff-to-student ratios serve as one of the fundamental indicators of institutional
quality in higher education. In Sri Lanka, the University Grants Commission
(UGC) formalized these standards via Circular No. 04/2019, mandating specific
staffing ratios for academic, temporary academic, administrative, and support
staff categories. Ideally, this policy framework requires that student intake
expansion be synchronized with proportional workforce growth. However, this
study identifies a systemic breakdown in this mechanism, precipitating a “tripartite
divergence” between regulatory standards (Normative De Jure), administrative
authorizations (Static De Jure), and operational realities (De Facto).
Using the University of Ruhuna (UoR) as a case study, this research investigates
the “quality gap” driven by uncoordinated increase in student enrollment and
severe post-2022 economic austerity measures. A critical disruption occurred between
the 2017/2018 and 2023/2024 academic years, where annual student intake
increased by 30% to 160% across different faculties, while the workforce simultaneously
contracted due to “brain drain” and the strict 2022 treasury recruitment
freeze. Quantitative analysis exposes a two-tiered crisis: a “policy gap” where approved
cadres failed to match intake, and a “vacancy gap” where even approved
posts remain unfilled. Currently, UoR faces an academic shortage of 221 against
the approved cadre and 894 cadre positions against the regulatory norm. Consequently,
student-to-teacher ratios have deteriorated drastically compared to UGC
standards: Medicine (1:12 vs. 1:7), Science (reaching 1:38 vs. 1:10), Humanities
(1:26 vs. 1:15), and Management (1:51 vs. 1:18). Furthermore, the administrative
and executive staff ratio has plummeted to 1:0.02 (norm: 1:0.1), while the support
staff ratio stands at 1:1.3, failing to meet the 1:2 standard for science-based
programs. The institution’s records show absolute shortfalls of 369 temporary instructors,
113 administrative/executive staff, and 1,454 support staff. To prevent
an irreversible collapse in educational quality, the higher education sector must
be exempted from the 2022 recruitment restrictions to urgently fill approved vacancies
and align staffing with established norms.
