The Private Medical School Duped Everyone
South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine
The report that was presented to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on March 22, 2012 by the committee appointed by the Health Ministry has clearly stated as to how SAITM has distorted information in order to obtain BOI approval.
The committee comprised Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Ravindra Ruberu, former Deputy Director General Education, Training and Reserch Health Ministry Dr. H. R. U. Indrasiri, Prof. Jayantha Jayawardena Director Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, Dr. Palitha Abeykoon former Director World Health Organization and Ms A. R. Ahamed Legal Officer Health Ministry.
Dr. Neville Fernando
“There was no medicine involved in training programmes at the time SAITM made the application for BOI registration. Therefore the committee notes that at the inception the South Asian Institute of Technology and Management was established without a medical degree programme. It was only on June 24, 2008, Dr. Neville Fernando sought BOI approval to change its name to South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine,” states the report.
In making the report the committee had called for written and oral submissions from the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), SAITM, BOI, Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) and parent groups.
According to the report, the application was submitted to the BOI by Chairman SAITM Dr. Neville Fernando on March 17, 2008 and the BOI had granted approval on March 31, 2008 subject to certain conditions.
Although conditions number five and nine of the BOI letter had stated that the enterprises should obtain approval from the Ministry of Health (MOH) prior to providing training in health science and SAITM is permitted to offer degrees only after affiliating to a recognized foreign university respectively, neither of these two conditions was complied with before starting the said course.
The report further states that although Dr. Neville Fernando in a letter dated May 21, 2008 to the BOI informing that he has made representations to the Health Minister, Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and University Grants Commission (UGC), only the letters written by Dr. Neville Fernando were attached but not the responses of the MOH, UGC and SLMC.
Although SAITM had signed the agreement with the BOI on October 1, 2008 the report observes that two batches had already been admitted by then but no approval from the MOH and the SLMC had been obtained even at that juncture.
Even after the newspaper announcement by the Health Ministry Secretary advising SAITM to suspend the enrolment of new students to the MBBS Degree program until the MOH resolve the issues, SAITM still had made a public advertisement to enrol students for the fifth batch.
It also states that in the absence of an effective date in the Gazette notification on August 30, 2011 granting the degree awarding status to SAITM, it is to be treated that the Higher Education Ministry had offered the degree awarding status prospectively. The report also states that SAITM has acknowledged that they had admitted two students who did not meet the current SLMC admission criteria and that SAITM has ensured that this would not be repeated.
“According to UGC, SAITM have informed them that their hospital will be completed by April 2012. The UGC have also stated that it is not possible to accommodate the four batches recruited before the Gazette notification and also does not have any provision legally to approve any offshore campus of Nishny Novogorod State Medical Academy (NNSMA) in Sri Lanka,” the report states.
The report meanwhile states that the students in the first four batches should be informed that it is very unlikely that they will be able to sit for the EPRM (formerly Act 16 examination) and obtain SLMC registration to practice in Sri Lanka.
“They have to proceed to NNSMA and commence the training as new students after ensuring the minimum GCE (A/L) qualifications prescribed by the SLMC, complete the entire course and pass the medical degree and return to Sri Lanka to sit for the EPRM Examination. The UGC and the SLMC meanwhile should advice the SAITM management to ensure that only one batch has to be admitted for training each year and not two as the practice of SAITM. This is the criteria adopted in state medical faculties. Such admissions for local students should be based on A/L results of that year,” says the report.
