Major Problems and Issues in Sri Lankan University System - Study Focus on the Student Perepective

The study discusses the major issues and problems of students in university system in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive literature is reviewed and critical discussion is offered from the findings of researches conducted by various authors of different regions. Along with detailed view of scholarly researches on students' issues and problems, an empirical investigation is incorporated taking the sample from public universities in Sri Lanka. An estimate of 100 respondents in different degree programme and different degree levels was administered in the Faculty of Management Studies, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. A self-constructed survey scale of 18 items was distributed to the students and taken back simultaneously. Study also conducted a focus group along with quantitative data to identify the insights of phenomena in qualitative perspective. The paper tries to explore students problems and issues related to various academic disciplines such as lecturer personal characteristic, lecturer related and student related activities. Under these categories different type of question ask from the student according to the student perspective. The study reports deficiencies of institutes and dissatisfaction of students in identified areas and urges the management in higher education to shift their focus on the most ignored dimensions of academic disciplines. The study also recommends the needed areas of future research and offers managerial implications