The authors give us a historical perspective of student access to tertiary education in Sri Lanka in light of the present frustrations felt towards the current university system. Many people criticise the quality of education and therefore the graduates of this system . Najab points out that this debate is being conducted without any historical perspective. She goes on to present the evolution of the system from the turn of the 20th century to the present day, and concludes that progress has indeed been made even though there is still plenty of room to grow.