Jaffna Medical Faculty faces uncertain future

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 February 1999, 20:29 GMT]
The Jaffna University Medical Faculty may not be able to meet the standards set by the Medical Council of Sri Lanka regarding the education of medical students, said Prof. Sivagnanasundaram, former Dean of the faculty, while addressing a function on February 7.

This would lead to the disqualification of nearly 500 students' MBBS degrees, he said.

The Medical council of Sri Lanka is to carry out a survey of all the medical faculties in the island and degrees awarded by faculties that do not have the necessary numbers of teachers will not be approved, said the Professor.

"The Jaffna Medical Faculty does not have enough teachers for the 500 students currently studying and the survey would definitely lead to crisis for these students", the Professor warned.

The Professor said that the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University of Jaffna should bring the problems faced by the faculty of Medicine in nominating lectures and professors to the notice of the Sri Lankan President. If the problems are not resolved by the President, the VC should resign, Prof. Sivagnanasundaram said.

If the VC fails to take necessary steps, students and parents will launch a protest campaign to safeguard the faculty, he warned.

Prof. Sivagnanasundaram said that the VC should inform the authorities of the difficulties faced by the university and make them aware that it is not practical to apply the same rules to Jaffna university as to other universities in the island.

There are problems regarding the appointment of new teachers and even problems in paying teachers their salaries, he said.

Prof. Daya Somasundaram, Dean of the Medical Faculty, Prof. Rajenthira Prasath and student representatives also spoke at the ceremony.

The function called, "Medic's Night", was organised by senior students at the faculty in honour of students who have graduated this year.