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Undergrads given ultimatum to attend lectures
View(s):An ultimatum has been issued to Allied Health Science Students of Peradeniya University to attend lectures or run the risk of their faculty being closed down. According to Prof. Mahinda Wickramaratne, Dean of the Allied Health Sciences Faculty, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has instructed the university to treat the matter as a local problem and take action.
No university has a separate faculty for Allied Health Sciences except the Peradeniya University. Prof. Wickramaratne said the faculty had assured the students that a proposal to extend the degree programme to four years in keeping with the students’ demand would be submitted to the Senate Committee on May 21.
Expressing disappointment at the students’ refusal to understand the situation, he said if the students’ demand were to be met, the curricular should be prepared carefully as the GMOA had protested claiming that some the contents overlapped with the medical degree. However, the students charged that the Ministry of Higher Education and the UGC were using the opposition of the GMOA as an excuse.
“We have been protesting for over 124 days now, but the officials have paid no heed. They are interpreting the court order to their advantage and have palmed off the responsibility. We will not back down until the ministry gives us a solution,” Lahiru Madhusanka, a spokesperson for the students, said.