University lecturers who overstayed their sabbatical leave will be exempted from cash penalties if they return to the country, officials said yesterday.

The Higher Education Ministry has decided to submit a Cabinet paper seeking such redress for those academics very soon.

Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told Daily Mirror yesterday that lecturers are required to sign a bond with their respective universities when leaving the country for post graduate studies.

Dr. Navaratne said these bonds demand that lecturers return to the country after completing their studies. If lecturers overstay their sabbatical leave they are required to pay penalty charges.

However, he said the Ministry had decided to exempt these lecturers from such charges if they were willing to return to the country and serve in their respective universities again, or at separate state institutions.

“There are many such lecturers who have overstayed their sabbatical leave. They are well qualified now after completion of their masters and doctoral studies. We decided to attract them to the country and get their service,” he said.

“The cabinet paper will be presented soon. We took the decision in this regard a few months ago. However, we could not present the cabinet paper. We will do it now,” he said. Asked how many such lecturers had agreed to return, he said, “A number of lecturers contacted me from abroad. However, there was a delay in presenting the cabinet paper. Now, we will do something in this case.”

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka