University of Huddersfield defers offers for prospective students to 2023/24
Image by University of Huddersfield
The growing political and economic instability in Sri Lanka as a result of the government’s inability to pay off a multi-million-pound foreign debt has resulted in many prospective students being deferred by the University of Huddersfield until next year.
In an email to the students, the university mentioned, “As a result of the ongoing disruption in Sri Lanka, our current students are facing significant problems paying for their living costs whilst they study because they cannot access the funds they need from home. This is obviously very stressful for them. As a university, we have a responsibility to ensure that minimal numbers of students are in this position. We believe deferring your offer until the next intake will be the best decision at this point.”
Since March this year, the country has seen a significant rise in protests against the current ruling government and a change in leadership. About two weeks ago, the leader of the United National Party, Ranil Wickremesinghe, replaced Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa had been ruling the country as a PM since 2019. Sri Lanka is facing a stark crisis as inflation is expected to reach 40% causing massive shortages in food, fuel and other essential supplies.
In an interview, one of the prospective students at the University of Huddersfield, Nimasha Chathurangi, expressed her concern saying, “They clearly mentioned that the current situation in Sri Lanka is the reason my place got deferred. As I know, the University of Huddersfield is the only university doing this. It is a very critical situation.”