500 undergrads hit by J’pura Medical Faculty closure
Students have been arbitrarily suspended and internal disputes are being created within the faculties
UNP MP and National Youth Front leader Ruwan Wijewardene yesterday urged the Vice Chancellor of the Sri Jayewardenepura University and university authorities to immediately reopen the campus’ Medical Faculty and allow students to continue with their studies.
Issuing a statement Mr. Wijewardene said the present crisis, affecting the studies of some 500 undergrads, was sparked by politically motivated sections in the university administration to block student leaders from coming into focus.
He added that students had been arbitrarily suspended and internal disputes were being created within the faculties. Authorities had used the recent protest against the admission of 13 students who had passed foreign exams to follow medicine at the university to close the faculty.
Coincidentally the protests had taken place when Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake and Education Minister Bandula Gunawardene had visited the campus, and the university was closed as a result thereafter, Mr. Wijewardene said.
The MP further noted that admitting students who faced foreign exams to the medical faculty was a step towards paving the way for the privatisation of university education.