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Summary Sri Lankan govt has shutdown most of universities indefinitely, amid a strike by academics.
Thirteen of the countrys 15 state-funded universities were closed after academics accused the government of meddling in university life and underfunding the sector.They say it will be further weakened if a plan to privatise the tertiary education system goes ahead.The academics, who have been on strike since June, are also opposed to the government forcing students to undertake military training.There has been no indication as to when the universities will reopen.Sri Lankas universities have a long history of civil disobedience.Student protests helped trigger the Tamil insurgency as well as equally violent Marxist uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s.
