The Socialist Alliance yesterday urged the Government to allocate 30 percent of the student admissions at the Malabe medical college (SAITM) to those who have obtained three ‘A’ passes in the biology stream but failed to gain admissions under a full scholarship scheme.
“If the Government intends to run the SAITM on a public-private partnership basis, they should consider offering 30 percent of student admissions to those who have passed the Advanced Level from the biology stream with three ‘As' but still failed to gain admittance to the state medical college” Prof.Tissa Vitharana said addressing the media in Colombo.
While admitting Sri Lanka lacks medical specialists and measures needed to address the issue, Prof. Vitharana said if the government thinks partnering with the private sector is the way forward, it should also be mindful to ensure the quality of medical education offered by all institutions remains in accordance with the highest stipulated standards.
Prof. Vitharana said it appears that the two major parties in the country which has formed a consensus government seems to thinks PPP is the way forward to further medical education in the country.
He said the concept has no wrong if government can assure the quality of education remains high.
Ptrof, Vitharana said the Government could follow what is practised in the US where the government and private sector have joined to establish medical colleges run on a non-profit basis.