Source: Getty

Taking a stand: Amnesty International UK has urged Uclan to note Sri Lanka¡¯s ¡®appalling human rights record¡¯, while other institutions have rejected its government¡¯s approaches

¡°There are very few countries in the world that have an unblemished human rights record, unfortunately,¡± Malcolm McVicar said of criticisms of the University of Central Lancashire¡¯s planned campus in Sri Lanka. ¡°If we were really, really selective, we might be operating just on the Isle of Wight.¡±

Dr McVicar, group chief executive officer of Preston-based Uclan, said the university can be a ¡°force for good¡± in Sri Lanka as he offered a defence of its overseas campuses.

It follows criticism from Amnesty International UK, which urged Uclan to ¡°look beyond the Sri Lankan government¡¯s spin and take note of the country¡¯s appalling human rights record¡±. Uclan¡¯s Cyprus campus has also been criticised as a security risk by Ban Ki-Moon, secretary general of the United Nations, after it opened in the UN buffer zone. And plans for a campus in Thailand collapsed before the operation got off the ground, losing the university an estimated ?3.2?million.

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Education, and income and position

Dr McVicar ¨C who was Uclan¡¯s vice-chancellor before becoming group chief executive in charge of the overseas branches ¨C said the campuses give UK students the chance to study overseas and gain language skills, while also providing ¡°high-quality higher education in areas where it wasn¡¯t available¡±.

But in addition, the sites are ¡°unashamedly about bringing income into the university and strengthening the university¡¯s competitive position¡±, he continued.

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¡°We have to be realistic. We¡¯re not Cambridge, we¡¯re not LSE¡­we¡¯re not in a big city, we¡¯re quite a big university, a lot of students come from families where there¡¯s not high income,¡± Dr McVicar said. ¡°The university needs something extra.¡±

In Thailand, Uclan entered into a joint venture with Thai businessman Sittichai Charoenkajonkul in which Uclan held a 49?per cent stake. Uclan¡¯s 2012-13 accounts state that ¡°disputes subsequently arose between the parties which resulted in [Uclan] giving notice to the Thai partner leading to the termination of the joint venture agreement¡± ¨C and a write-off of ?3.2?million.

Dr McVicar said that he is ¡°determined that we will recover, if not all, a significant chunk of that ?3.2?million¡±.

Was there a failure of due diligence? ¡°We did due diligence,¡± Dr McVicar said. ¡°I have asked for an audit to make sure we did everything properly¡­The auditors are working on that now. I was personally involved in some of the due diligence, and I think we did the due diligence OK. But we¡¯ll wait and see what the audit report says.¡±

Is it the case that in other sectors, a loss of this scale might get someone the sack? ¡°Well, the person who should be sacked is me ¨C I¡¯m the chief executive. They haven¡¯t sacked me yet,¡± Dr McVicar joked.

He still believes that Thailand is an excellent location for Uclan to establish a presence ¨C and there will be ¡°an announcement in due course¡± on the form that presence might take. ¡°Part of the problem is [when] everyone thinks of Thailand, they think of transvestites and girlie bars. It¡¯s actually a very strong economy¡­Bangkok will be a new Hong Kong,¡± Dr McVicar said.

¡®Working with the people¡¯

In Sri Lanka, at least one other UK university turned down the invitation from the Sri Lankan government to set up a campus.

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But Dr McVicar believes that Uclan can play a ¡°useful role ¨C not supporting the government, because that¡¯s not our job, but providing educational opportunities¡±, while establishing a regional centre that will give the university access to students from southern India.

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Is there a worry about working with a government accused of war crimes, after the brutal end to Sri Lanka¡¯s civil war in 2009? ¡°We are working with [Sri Lanka¡¯s] inward investment agency [which is] providing us with some [tax breaks], which is fine. But we are not receiving government money,¡± Dr?McVicar said.

He added: ¡°I make a distinction between the government and the country. We¡¯re in the country, and we¡¯re working with the people of the country. We¡¯re offering opportunities to individuals. We¡¯re not there as a servant of the government.¡±

In the buffer zone

In Cyprus (¡°brilliantly located¡± within easy reach of so many countries, according to Dr McVicar), Uclan operates a joint venture company with a Greek Cypriot developer. The joint venture, in which Uclan holds a 51?per cent stake, leases the buildings from the developer.

Uclan¡¯s share of the losses of the campus amounted to ?1.7 million in 2012-13, according to its accounts. However, Dr McVicar argued that such ventures are bound to ¡°lose money for the first five years¡±.

On the UN criticism of the campus¡¯ location in the mixed Greek-Turkish village of Pyla (the UN worries that students will be entirely Greek Cypriot), Dr McVicar said the campus ¡°got all the official approvals from the Cypriot government, from the local authority¡±.

But why is it in the buffer zone? Is it because the land is cheaper? ¡°That¡¯s where [the developer] comes from, he¡¯s loyal to his village,¡± said Dr McVicar.

And he also said: ¡°When they talk about the buffer zone, it¡¯s not like a mile-wide strip that¡¯s bare. It¡¯s just a village¡­It¡¯s true that every day a white UN Land Rover drives up and down. But the former head of UN security for that area is our security officer, and I¡¯m not conscious of any issues relating to the buffer zone.¡±

He pointed to the future prospects offered by the ¡°massive oil and gas reserves between Cyprus and Israel¡±. The Uclan campus has an Institute of Professional Studies that ¡°is training people in the gas and energy industry¡± and will help the Cypriot economy benefit from those natural resources, he added.

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john.morgan@tsleducation.com