Protesting against private medical college unethical - Minister S.B. Dissanayake

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said Sri Lanka has many private tertiary education institutions offering degree certificates and therefore it is not ethical for the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) or any other party to protest against the setting up of private medical colleges which will help the country produce more doctors in future.

According to Higher Education Ministry reports, over seven tertiary education institutions operate in the country at present, offering degree certificates on various educational fields.

The Minister also referred to the protest carried out by the GMOA last week against the decision taken by the Higher Education Ministry to legalise the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) at Malabe. He said only those who missed entry to Sri Lankan Medical Colleges by a few marks seek enrolment in this private medical college.

He said the SAITM was established in 2008 and the University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved it after monitoring its education facilities for over two years.

It is reported that the SAITM is affiliated to the University of Wolverhampton, University of Buckingham, Asian Institute of Technology and Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy and the quality and standard of the medical degrees awarded come under the purview of the UGC and the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC).

Meanwhile, a senior official of the SAITM said the private medical college has many facilities including lecture halls, auditoriums, tutorial rooms, laboratories and museums for anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, parasitology and pathology, while others are being constructed.

It is also reported that the GMOA's planned strike last Wednesday was called off after certain demands were made to the SAITM.

The SAITM also turned down the request made by the Health Ministry and the GMOA to suspend enrolling students to the institution.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Maithreepala Sirisena at a recent function at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital said education and other facilities at private medical colleges should be of a high standard and it is their duty to produce qualified doctors to cater to the needs of patients.