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| Sunday, 13 June 2004 |
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After a lapse of almost twenty five years... : Undergrads from South enter Jaffna Medical Faculty by Ananth Palakidnar Emerging somewhat unscathed from the chaos and destruction of a two-decade long war, the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna completed its twenty fifth year in October last year with a significant achievement -23 Sinhalese students from the South-among its undergraduate cadre. They are the first batch of students from the South to have gained admission to the faculty since the ceasefire came into effect in 2002. On 'Poson Poya' day these students were gathered at the Naga Vihara, to observe `sil' and to view the display of Poson lanterns created by several Army units based in Jaffna. "We were little bit worried when we first gained admission to the Medical Faculty in Jaffna. But when we arrived a year ago, we immediately realised that we were in a very friendly atmosphere despite the scars of war in every nook and corner in the Peninsula," says Sashini de Silva. Her colleague Chathuri Warnakulasuriya agrees whole heartedly. Sashini is a product of Devi Balika Vidyalaya and Chathuri from Visaka both in Colombo. Both are in their first year, along with twenty three other colleagues. Thirteen of them are males. When the University of Jaffna was founded in 1974, a significant number of Sinhalese students gained admissions to the Arts, Science and Commerce faculties. But their existence in Jaffna did not last long and some of them even faced bitter experiences when Tamil extremism was in its initial stages in the early seventies. However many from the first batch of Sinhalese students of the University of Jaffna still remember how they were protected and their books and other belongings were sent to their homes, safely by their friends in Jaffna. It is after a lapse of almost twenty five years that these students have entered the Jaffna Medical faculty. And contrary to pre ceasefire days, these students are considered `goodwill envoys from the South' by their Tamil colleagues. Sashini and Chathuri dressed in white, owing to the Poson Poya, comment on their stay in Jaffna and say they found everything comfortable except their journey to Jaffna from the South. "It's tedious," they claim. "We all stay at the university hostels mingling with our Tamil colleagues and we enjoy an amiable atmosphere. We move around on our own bicycles and we come across friendly smiling faces wherever we go", says Shashini. They claim language is not a problem as they are good in their Tamil and the people in Jaffna are not fussy about talking either in Sinhala or Tamil. "Lectures are conducted in English and a lot of understanding remain within the Medical Faculty", Shashini adds. Chathuri describing her family's reaction to her decision to join the Jaffna Faculty says that her parents were initially a bit worried as she was going to a place affected by war. "Whenever there is a small incident in the North rumours go around in a big way in the South, so our parents also start worrying about us, but we are always in touch with them and explain the situation to them," she explains. Commenting on their studies and the facilities at the Jaffna Medical Faculty they say the Ministry of Higher Education should concentrate more towards improving the facilities of faculty as it had faced severe difficulties due to the devastating war for the past two decades. "More funds should be allocated to improve the library, laboratory and other basic needs of the faculty. We even need an auditorium with adequate seating facilities," insists Chathuri. Elaborating on the urgent need to have more senior lecturers to the faculty, they say at present the teaching staff, despite limited facilities, compared to other medical faculties in the country, do a tremendous job to give their best to the students. "The Jaffna Peninsula has suffered massive destructions due to war but the University education here remains unbridled, with annual convocations. We do not come across clashes among the students,nor disturbances to our lectures or examinations. Therefore we are confident that we could complete our studies within the stipulated period," Shashini quips. There are 693 students at the Medical Faculty at present. Around 1200 students have passed out from the Jaffna Medical Faculty in its twenty five years old history.And the doctors produced from the Medical Faculty of Jaffna are currently serving in various parts of the country. Several prominent political figures such as late Speaker K. B. Ratnayake, Maithripala Senanayake and Lakshman Jayakody and a large number of professionals from various parts of Southern Sri Lanka had their education in Jaffna in the early part of the twentieth century. However Shashini and Chathuri along with their colleagues from the South can be considered not only courageous but also as the architects of building new bridges between the North and the South in the beginning of the 21st century. |
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