In Sri Lanka, there have been many discussions about the PhD degrees in the last week due to the fake phD allegations targeting the speaker of parliament. This fact check concerns similar allegations against the prime minister of the government.
Social Media Posts
Social media posts allege that Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, did not complete her PhD at the University of Edinburgh. It is claimed that despite using the title “Dr.”, she only received a three-month scholarship from Edinburgh and does not hold a PhD.
Fact-Check:
To verify these claims, we reviewed several reliable sources, including statements from the University of Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University, and Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s professional profiles.
1. Verification of Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s PhD Credentials
LinkedIn Profile: Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s LinkedIn profile states that she earned her PhD through a joint program between the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University.
Parliament Website: In the parliamentary website, her education qualifications are mentioned as ph.D in social anthropology.The website can be reached here
The University of Edinburgh Statement: The School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh confirmed Dr Amarasuriya completed her PhD in Social Anthropology in 2010 (She started that in 2005)while congratulating her after she was appointed to the prime minister position in Sri Lanka. Her thesis focused on child protection policy in Sri Lanka, and Professor Jonathan Spencer, an Emeritus Professor of South Asian Language, Culture, and Society at the university, supervised her work. The university statement can be read here
Professor Spencer put FB note about Dr Harini`s appointment as PM also.
Queen Margaret University Statement: Queen Margaret University also issued a statement congratulating Dr. Amarasuriya, confirming her completion of the joint PhD program. Her research was conducted within the Institute for Global Health and Development. The university statement can be read here
2. Claims Regarding a “Three-Month Scholarship”
The “three-month scholarship” appears to stem from a fellowship Dr. Amarasuriya undertook at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) in 2019.
IASH Fellowship: Dr. Amarasuriya was a Nominated Fellow at IASH for three months, during which she participated in a project titled The Anthropology of Conscience, Human Rights, and Ethics.
Duration Clarification: This fellowship was unrelated to her PhD, which she completed years earlier in 2010.University statement congratulating her can be read here
She has done lot of researches in the field and details about her researches can be referred here ,here and here
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Conclusion
The claim that Dr. Harini Amarasuriya did not complete her PhD is false. She earned her PhD in Social Anthropology in 2010 through a joint program between the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University. The three-month fellowship at IASH in 2019 was a separate academic endeavor and has been misrepresented in these claims.
This fact-check confirms Dr. Amarasuriya’s qualifications as legitimate and supported by her academic record. Misleading information about her credentials appears to be a misinterpretation of her IASH fellowship.
Title:Did Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya Not Complete Her PhD?
Written By: Kalana KrishanthaResult: False
