PROTESTS AGAINST SAITM IS RELATED TO CORRUPTION OR IS IT A POLITICAL CONSPIRACY ?
Posted on June 25th, 2017
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
During my encounter with many doctors who are not even members of GMOA ,have expressed their solidarity to the strike .I am dead-against the strike ,but my argument was countered by these doctors stating that the Saitm owners may have bribed politicians of both governments. They give a hoot about the original qualifications of the students. They also claim that private medical education is acceptable and should continue.
Protest is against the corruption but the partisan approach of the Chairman of GMOA who even contemplated to contest with Mahinda Faction for Kurunanagla indicates that he has an ulterior motive ?
Opinion created in the minds of the public is that politicians may have been bribed and also that the leaders of GMOA are politically biased .GMOA should at least come to a compromise and press for the passed-out MBBS students from Saitm to sit for act 16 exam which is compulsory for all medical graduates other than local degree holders .Government is also trying to prove the point that private education should continue. If they give in in like the way they gave up with Northern Medical College Saga we will never pursue with private education and it will spread to other disciplines .
We may also allow 50 % of the students from abroad and allow them to do the internship in Sri Lanka like in Nepal and India
, Any strike in the future will make Nawaloka.Thudawe ( durdens) .Softlogic.Lanka hospital etc richer and richer and the consultants in these hospitals will be fattening their purses .
Note
- I wrote this opinion before The President conducted a meeting with GMOA.
- I had experience with GMOA during JVP’s failed second attempt to grab power.My wife who is a foreign graduate was working in Gampaha Hospital and the doctors were either scared or towing the line with JVP ,refused to go to work .My wife and I decided not to strike ,and she got an ambulance daily to home to go to work.GMOA came to know about and the top brass of GMOA came to my home all the way from Colombo to Gampaha.They confronted me and wanted my wife not to go to work .To their dismay I disagreed ,blasted them and kicked them out of my house telling them that we will not resort to such inhuman act .JVP could not do much ,may be for our luck and our house never got the customary chit” from JVP.It is evident that JVP ( or their offshoot ) tries to destabilize the country on and off .
- I am lost to understand why government cannot foresee this coming .GMOA was trying to instigate youths to take arms, but they got scared as they suspected that that disgruntled patients were almost taking arms and twist their arms .Hopefully GMOA heads will never ever take poor patients at ransom in the future.
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
June 25th, 2017 at 5:49 pm
1. SAITM is a business started by a Sinhalese
2.JVP is the Sinhala terrorist arm of India.
Indian and Indian Colonial Parasites will do their best to destroy successful Sinhala businesses and kill the owners.
Best examples are Wellwatta Spinning and Weaving Mills and Upali.
June 25th, 2017 at 6:47 pm
In my view,if we exclude political agendas, the SAITM issue is really a FEAR by current doctors and medical students that the introduction of private medical colleges will create a school that serves only the RICH who can afford to pay for that private education. I assume that the STANDARDS issue can be solved easily by requiring all medical graduates to meet the same set of standards.
In time, they fear that more and more private medical colleges will open up for RICH folks to educate their children, and in a short time the medical profession could become the preserve of the RICH. Thus a method whereby the distribution of wealth in the country which is skewed towards the elite would be created as it was in ALL EDUCATION prior to SWRD’S revolution in 1956.
Given that the govt does not have the money to create more govt medical colleges, it seems using private medical colleges to educate MORE students is a good idea, PROVIDED we can ensure that all applicants get admitted on the basis of academic MERIT alone and not excluded because they can’t pay.
Once we understand that, the solution becomes quite simple: require that private schools offer Scholarships based on NEED to all students selected for admission on MERIT. The NEED should be determined on the basis of MEANS TESTING of family income and family size, and the cost of the scholarships should be shared in some ratio (say 1:1) between the private medical college and the government. That portion paid by the private medical college would come from its gross operating profits.
In this way, we can educate all childen who qualify for admission on MERIT and are eager to learn and become medical doctors, and share the burden of providing the facilities and meeting costs between the industry and the government. That would be a win-win for all concerned.
June 25th, 2017 at 7:14 pm
Ananda(USA),
Your view is correct and your ideas are noble.
However, few scholarships will not make a difference and the government cannot force private sector too much. We should not forget that private degrees are offered not only in the medical field but many other fields and these programs are ongoing even now. Student from international schools easily get banking jobs even without degrees and poor students have to struggle.
On the other hand, we need not stop rick from getting degrees but we can stop rich from getting unjustifiable ‘favours’.
As far as the country is concerned, letting the population (both rich and poor) get degrees whilst restricting foreign exchange outflow is a good thing. However, solving social problems is more complex and by mixing these two issues together, people will be fighting forever without any progress.
Economical solutions are very urgent and social problem solving should be allowed to evolve gradually. Overnight change of politicians (PERSONS) will never lead us anywhere. ‘Political Business’ and violence should come to an end NOW and patience and endurance shall be encouraged.
June 25th, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Kithsiri and USA are correct.
SAITM is valid. They should be ALLOWED. Jealous people don’t want these kids to STUDY. JVP attitude.
So many private ACCOUNTING and ENGINEERING schools in the country. NO ONE cares because they are owned by Tamils.
All this SAITM violence is because it is owned by a Singhalese.
June 27th, 2017 at 10:08 pm
In agreeing and then adding bits and pieces to Ananda and Senarath, I would suggest another way to deal with this , which is through the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) which is the peak body that governs university system in Sri Lanka.
When they allocate university places, UGC must treat government and approved private colleges alike. The UGC can allocate students , naturally based on merit only to “all” universities both government and private. That means if the existing number of places with government universities is “n” and the number of places available with private colleges is “m” then the total number of places available for UGC will now be “n+m”. Out of this selected total number of students, based on MEANS TESTING, those richer and well-off students can be posted to the private colleges, and they will pay for their studies. The fees must be regulated and approved by the UGC. Paying for the university studies by the rich must be made compulsory regardless if it is a government or a private place.
Free-of-charge education to both rich and poor is not valid any more in the current society with massive income gaps. Free education is NOT free-of-charge education. Free education means everybody has equal access to equal education provided that they have the intellectual ability to get it. Before “free education” system it was only those “privileged” who could get the education. That system was changed to free education, but the real meaning is NOT free-of-charge education.
Government must pay for those not-rich students who are allocated to private colleges (government is already bearing the cost for them at the government universities, so there is no difference). Rich must pay the fees even if they are at a government university. All paying and non-paying students must sit together and study together without the primitive “class segregation”.
This way the private colleges get their income as usual, and government university students also will not have a complaint.
Government universities must also attract a limited number of fee paying international students who will be paying higher fees that can be used to off-set some of the cost the government bears to pay for poorer students at private colleges.
This way there will be only one education system for all and no one can be jealousy of another. Simply the richer will pay which cannot be argued against.
Every new approved private university must be added to this system, so the number of university places will naturally increase. No “unapproved” body must be allowed to offer degrees in Sri Lanka; medical or not.
June 27th, 2017 at 10:33 pm
That will NOT work Wetta.
Private medical colleges are GOOD but they rank BELOW the government medical college. A kid should NOT be discriminated just because he is rich. IF he has made the mark, give him his choice.
UGC CANNOT decide who should go to a private university! That is not UGC’s business.
Means testing can be EASILY fooled particularly by CHEATS of certain ethnic groups!