NPC’s Mobilising University State Engagement for Reconciliation (MUSTER) project held a district training programme for 15 students from the University of Ruhuna to share knowledge and provide comprehensive guidance on qualitative research techniques that would be applied in the project’s research.

The session covered various tools for data collection and data analysis in social science research. The students received guidance on research ethics that they would need to follow while working on selected research topics which were finalised with supervision from university assigned mentors under three thematic areas - dying cultural issues, issues leading to ethnic relations and ethnic tensions.

The sessions on qualitative research methodology were led by Mr. Upul Sanjeewa while Mrs. Mayuri Kularathne from the University of Ruhuna conducted sessions on data gathering, analytics and research tools.

A session on case study development was conducted by Dr. Nisanka Sanjeewani Ariyaratne from the University of Ruhuna, which allowed the students to practically apply what they had learnt. Dr. Ariyaratne explained the difference between research reports and case study reports, which will be used in the project’s final publications.

Malitha Praneeth, a third year student, commented, “History shows that our country was once peaceful and free from ethnic disputes. However, ethnic divisions arose after the 1956 Sinhala Only Act was introduced.”

The MUSTER project, implemented across the districts of Sabaragamuwa, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Matara, is supported by GIZ. In each district, 15 students from Sabaragamuwa University, Jaffna University, Eastern University and Ruhuna University are conducting research under the three thematic areas.