SAITM: Is It A Growing Concern?

By Samandika Saparamadu –February 3, 2016 

Samandika Saparamadu

The private university concept was mooted in the late 1970’s with economic liberalisation policies. It also takes us to the painful traumatic memories of the late 80’s when hundreds of young men were brutally killed. This was during the reign of terror from 1986 to 1990 with the protest against the Private Medical College (PMC), Ragama. This saga of commercialising medical education continued with eight attempts to form Private Medical Colleges (PMC’s) over the last three decades. The lust for mega profits by some unscrupulous local businessmen in exploiting medical education has led to recent controversies and malpractices, which surfaced through reports and news headlines pertaining to the SAITM (South Asian Institute of Technology and Management) racket.

PMCs in Sri Lanka is no longer an issue of economics or health but sociological and political, much more deep rooted indeed. It is an important social determinant of the health of Sri Lankans over the next few decades. I will try to make it succinct to not waste reader’s time.

Status quo

Recently, I was taken aback by online comments, reviews and articles written against public universities and in favour of the PMC. I was curious on why there was so much animosity towards free healthcare system, free education and doctors in Sri Lanka. After some research, I discovered that this is a common problem in every ‘highly sought after’ field with limited opportunities, specially when it’s given on a merit basis! However, the online comments were completely undermining the experiences of my batch-mates during their housemanships (Internships) in Sri Lanka (SL), not too long ago. Fortunately or unfortunately, online comments and posts in general in Sri Lanka do not represent the normal curve. As per “Internet live stats” percentage of population with Internet in Sri Lanka is only 19.9% and internet literacy rate is even less than 20%, as per Department of Census and Statistics. Therefore, it is vital to point out that the online majority hardly represents the opinion of the country’s majority. Nevertheless, there are many socio-economic factors that make people hate doctors in Sri Lanka, and out of which the “Colonial factor” is an important one. It is certainly a topic for another day.

So, it is also crucial to acknowledge that online hate comments are not only about ‘Anti PMC’ sentiments (“No PMC” campaign), which could impose a falsified idea on people as if the campaign is against all private education institutions and students.Read More