Are government universities failing?

So i was on the bus omw home, three students got onto the bus claiming that they were from the university of colombo to raise money by singing songs. They said that the "mahapola" isn't serving them well and many students are finding it difficult to fund their daily meals. they also said that professors are also leaving the country along with some students,
Is this the real situation at local universities currently, is it real bad bcuz i have seen many fund raisers by university students but this was the first time they did it by saying they are hopeless...