Govt.’s decision on SAITM a fraud – MFSAC convener

While rejecting the direction issued by the Vice Chancellors of State Universities for all medical students to engage in their academic work with immediate effect, the Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee (MFSAC) today said that the university students belonging to eight medical faculties have decided to continue boycotting lectures in protest of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine despite the latest stand taken by the government regarding it.

MFSAC Convener Ryan Jayalath told that the government’s decision to abolish the SAITM and convert it into a not for profit institution coming under the University Grants Commission (UGC) was a fraud done by the government to cheat on the people.

“Through this decision, the ownership of the SAITM will be the only thing that would change. The ownership of it will be handed over to some other party. But the deceitful procedure of the SAITM will be continuing even in the future. The main issue here is the privatization of free education,” he added.

He said that no solution had been granted for the issues which had been created through the privatization of free education, by this decision. He also said that the main reason behind the government’s attempt to change the name of the SAITM was that it had already been rejected from the medical councils in Britain, Australia and Maldives.

He said that university students attached to all medical faculties in the country would continue boycotting lectures uninterruptedly for the tenth month.

However, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) said in a statement that this series of proposals could be accepted as a positive and constructive series of proposals for the purpose of solving the issue arisen on the Medical Faculty of SAITM.

“Accordingly, since a positive situation has been created for all medical students of state universities to continue their education and clinical training, we, the Vice Chancellors, insist them to engage in their academic work with immediate effect,” it said.