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The private providers of higher education in Sri Lanka featured in the report "UK links' quality checked" (December 9) are not unaccredited, as the Sri Lankan University Grants Commission would have us believe.

They are accredited by a number of British, Australian and other universities of repute that are themselves accredited in the countries in which they are based, and their collaborative provision is therefore subject to periodic inspection by their own national quality assurance agencies.

The report mentions high failure rates on courses accredited for delivery in Sri Lanka by the universities of Leicester and Northumbria. This can only reflect the rigorous academic standards imposed by these universities.

What is really going on here is an attempt by the Gov-ernment of Sri Lanka to control private higher education provision within its borders using the quality argument as its spurious justification.

Geoffrey Alderman
Senior vice-president
American InterContinental University, London