UGC AI Policy Framework for State Universities 2026 | teachmore.lk

UGC Issues AI Policy for State Universities

The University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka has released the National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence in State Universities 2026. Grounded in national priorities, the Personal Data Protection Act No. 9 of 2022 (as amended in 2025), and global ethical standards, this policy outlines clear guidelines for integrating artificial intelligence across academic, administrative, and research activities.

The framework adopts an enablement-first structure to boost teaching quality, administrative speed, and research productivity without imposing redundant limits on low-risk tools.

Key Pillars and Core Ethical Principles

• Human-Centred Oversight: AI tools must perform supportive functions, reserving final decision-making power for authorized humans.
• High-Stakes Decision Safeguards: AI cannot serve as the sole automated criteria for high-stakes outcomes like admissions, grading, staff recruitment, promotions, or disciplinary actions.
• Right to Explanation and Appeal: Anyone affected by an AI-influenced decision retains the right to receive a clear explanation, request human review, and access fair appeal mechanisms.
• Prohibited AI Uses: Intrusive unauthorized surveillance, fully automated high-stakes evaluation without human checks, and social scoring based on sensitive characteristics (disability, language, ethnicity, gender) are strictly banned.

4-Tier Risk Management Framework

The policy classifies AI deployment across four distinct risk levels adapted from international standards:

රාජ්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල සඳහා කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය (AI) භාවිතය පිළිබඳ ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති රාමුව 2026

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රාජ්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්ධතිය තුළ කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධිය (AI) වගකීම් සහගත ලෙස භාවිත කිරීම සඳහා වන ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති රාමුව විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව (UGC) විසින් නිකුත් කර ඇත. මෙමගින් ඉගැන්වීම්, ඇගයීම්, පර්යේෂණ සහ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පරිපාලන කටයුතු සඳහා AI තාක්ෂණය යොදාගැනීමේදී ආරක්ෂා කළ යුතු මානව අධීක්ෂණය, දත්ත පෞද්ගලිකත්වය සහ අධ්‍යයන අවංකභාවය පිළිබඳ පැහැදිලි මාර්ගෝපදේශ සපයනු ලැබේ.

அரசுப் பல்கலைக்கழகங்களுக்கான செயற்கை நுண்ணறிவு பயன்பாட்டுத் தேசியக் கொள்கைச்சட்டம் 2026

இலங்கை அரசுப் பல்கலைக்கழக அமைப்பில் செயற்கை நுண்ணறிவை (AI) பொறுப்புடன் பயன்படுத்துவதற்கான தேசியக் கொள்கை கட்டமைப்பை பல்கலைக்கழக மானியங்கள் ஆணைக்குழு (UGC) வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. கற்பித்தல், மதிப்பீடு, ஆராய்ச்சி மற்றும் நிர்வாகப் பணிகளில் AI தொழினுட்பத்தைப் பயன்படுத்தும்போது பின்பற்ற வேண்டிய மனித மேற்பார்வை, தரவு பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் கல்விசார் நேர்மை குறித்த தெளிவான வழிகாட்டுதல்களை இக்கொள்கை வழங்குகிறது.

Academic Integrity, Data Protection, and Universal Access

• Academic Integrity: Students and researchers remain fully accountable for content accuracy. Crucially, output from automated AI detector software cannot serve as the sole reason to penalize students without contextual human evaluation and appeal options.
• Data Stewardship: Sensitive personal or institutional records are treated as public trust. Uploading private campus data to external tools or utilizing university data for public AI model training without institutional approval is forbidden.
• Multilingual Support: Deployed AI platforms must adhere to accessibility standards, accommodate assistive technologies, and maintain functional capability across Sinhala, Tamil, and English.

Implementation Timelines for State Universities

1. Within 2 Years: Every state university must establish an institutional AI policy compliant with UGC minimum standards, form a designated AI governance committee, and implement risk controls for high-risk tools.
2. Within 3 Years: University administrations must launch baseline AI literacy and ethics programs for all students, academic staff, and non-academic personnel.