Sunday Times 2
Free education and SAITM
View(s):By Rev. Prof. W. Wimalaratana
Universal free education is an ideology that has deep roots in Sri Lanka although it has evolved with great resistance, especially after the economic liberalisation in 1977. In addition to free education (teaching) from schools through to the first degree in public universities, some of the integral components of free education in Sri Lanka include free school uniforms, free text books, subsidised transport facilities, subsidised hostel facilities, free IT, free TABs for A Level students, free sports facilities, free insurance, and certain free health care facilities. The cost of free education, free health and other similar facilities fall on the general public, mostly as indirect taxes. Nearly 80 percent of the tax revenue comes from the indirect tax, so that the subsidy costs fall directly on the general public irrespective of their level of income and wealth.
A lot of negative as well as positive ideas are flowing around and a verdict has also been given by the court regarding the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).
In addition to school education, private tuition plays a critical role from grade five onwards. However, before the student comes to the public schools, parents mostly finance preschool education though there are some free schools conducted by NGOs and local government authorities. Almost all the university students would say they passed O Level as well as A Level examinations after attending private tuition classes and not because of public school education. They might have received some support from their schools, though not decisive support. It is a well known fact that all the A Level students are not in their school classes but are in tuition classes. It is strange to highlight here that the school teachers conduct some tuition classes themselves though they do not deliver the same service at the school.
In the meantime, parents of school children are compelled to pay different types of fees in government schools. This is in addition to financial and material donations as well as supplies of free (forced) labour for school cleaning, repairing, colour washing etc. Additionally, in some schools parents are expected to give gifts to some class teachers.
There is no universal free education in Sri Lanka at all; all citizens pay for that directly and indirectly though the quality is questionable compared to some other countries. I do not want to highlight the colossal waste and corruption involved in the name of free education and other similar facilities.
University education is limited to a small percentage of the Sri Lankan population. Even though the private sector has also been involved in university education of late, medical education is considered a taboo area for private universities. A number of excuses are given for the ongoing resistance to private medical colleges In Sri Lanka. A few are briefly elaborated here, so that the reader will understand the truth behind the resistance.
Sale of free education: As dogma, it is a serious challenge to free education. As a practice, education has been marketed (sold and bought) for a long time and it is still going on. There are occasions in which some able parents, although not essentially rich, send their children overseas for medical education as it is not possible to buy that service in Sri Lanka. School level education and some professional education is no longer free in the country. Similarly, external degree programs conducted by public universities are sold even though the registration fee is low. Still registered students of these degree programs have to follow paid degree classes conducted mostly by the university lecturers to pass the examinations. There is no need to mention here if such degree programs are targeted to meet the labour market requirements in the country as well as the quality of such programs to compete in the global market.
Low quality of education: It is very true, and it should be addressed immediately as this is the case not only in medicine but also in other disciplines. An independent regulatory body/watchdog is needed for all the medical colleges irrespective of the private sector as you are dealing with human life. However, we are not aware of the quality of foreign medical colleges in which many Sri Lankans are studying. In addition to the quality of education, some other dangerous health related issues in the country should be addressed appropriately. There are many bogus medical doctors in Sri Lanka and they run private clinics in many parts of the country. Similarly, there are many bogus pharmacists in the country misreading the prescriptions. The native doctors and charmers complicate the situation further. Adding insult to injury; private hospitals charge exorbitant prices from their clients and a considerable percentage of such charges go to public sector doctors who perform part time duties in those private hospitals. It is difficult to decide which one is the part time duty on some occasions. There is a popular perception in society that you would not get the proper treatment in the public hospital ward, if you do not consult the relevant doctor at the private clinic in advance. It is not necessary to discuss the medical negligence regularly reported in Sri Lankan media.
Poor educational facilities: Qualified teaching staff, support staff, labs, libraries, and sufficient space for students and common areas for all are essential for education. It is a well-known fact that most of the private educational institutions do not have such facilities, especially some private tuition classes which are conducted using extremely poor facilities. Similarly, some of the public universities as well as government schools do not have the minimum facilities to offer certain degree programs. At the same time undergraduates are not empowered to be an integral part of the global mainstream knowledge and practice. There are some schools, especially in remote areas, without buildings, drinking water, wash rooms as well as (qualified) teachers. It is really hard to compare and contrast the general education and education in medical colleges. The latter should be given careful attention as it decides the fate of your life. An independent regulatory body can specify the minimum facilities/requirements for all the medical colleges including teaching faculty members’ qualifications. This should go beyond the private universities and should cover all the medical faculties in the public universities in Sri Lanka. It is dangerous to hide the weaknesses in public educational institutes in the name of free education. There should be a proper mechanism to check the quality of products (graduates) of public and private universities in Sri Lanka.
High course fees: The course fees are unacceptable to Sri Lanka per the facts highlighted by the critics of private medical education in the country. Still the high prices are justifiable, if the quality compensates for the price. It should be properly evaluated by an independent body. In a market economy, proper prices are determined by demand and supply in a level playing field. It is a well-known fact that the prices are naturally high when one or two players are in the market. This was the case regarding the telecommunications industry in Sri Lanka sometime back (better not to compare it with the private omnibus services in the country). The telecom sector’s service quality has improved tremendously since the liberalisation of the industry although prices are high now mainly due to heavy levies and taxes. If there is a competitive market and proper regulatory mechanisms, the course fees of private medical colleges should go down while improving the quality.
Enrolment of unqualified students: This is a very precarious situation as money helps untalented students become medical doctors while leaving behind the talented students without a direction. This is not a new development in the country as it happens at grade five, O Level and A Level examinations. It is a well-known fact that the parents with sufficient means send their kids to mass classes, group glasses, and individual tuition in addition to school level education. Thus, in many cases, talented students are eliminated from the stiff competition purely because of insufficient means for education. The cost is high when it comes to science education including the bio science. Additionally, some of the undergraduate students in public universities would say that they were not the best students in their A Level classes. Therefore, there are issues regarding the current examination based filtering process. However, these arguments are not good excuses to choose unqualified students for private medical colleges. The solution would be to have an independent regulatory body with power to control/specify the entry qualifications. Additionally, it should be compulsory to demonstrate the name lists of selected students with their entry qualifications in the university websites. This can be applied to both public and private universities in the country and also to all the degree programs.
Underprivileged students: Private medical colleges create opportunities only for students with sufficient means. Thus, underprivileged students do not have opportunities to follow degree programs in private medical colleges violating social justice. This injustice is widespread in Sri Lanka when students are selected to reputable schools. A certain percentage of students are selected on a merit basis while some others, perhaps the largest percentage, are selected based on powers, means, networks, corruptive practices and family backgrounds. Justice is violated in the country due to a number of reasons not only in private medical colleges. The parents of all the students in private universities are not really rich; they are simply middle income families. They either spend their lifetime savings or rent out properties for the higher education of their children. In a way, local medical colleges would be a welcome relief for them rather than sending their children to overseas medical colleges. The conversion of our local currency and subsequent transfer to foreign countries because of students attending foreign medical colleges results in a drain to our local economy.
However, there are methods by which underprivileged students can attend private medical colleges. For example, the policy makers may introduce a rule to allocate a quota for poor students to address this issue. Similarly, the private sector can be encouraged to introduce scholarship programs to studies in private medical colleges targeting low income categories, if they can meet the basic entry qualifications.
Saga of SAITM: A lot of negative as well as positive ideas are flowing around and a verdict has also been given by the court regarding the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). As usual, a well organised section of the society is spreading negative ideas powerfully. It is obvious that there is a considerable imbalance between the positive and negative propaganda campaigns. SAITM is considered a house of deception and it should be taken over by the government according to some allegations. If there are genuine weaknesses or grievances they should be investigated and addressed properly.
For a long time medical education has been considered a holy area and essentially confined to the public sector only. If someone wrote or talked in favour of private medical colleges, he was branded a traitor and suppressed by all means. It has been an extremely high risk area for an investor. As a result, nobody was interested in investing in private medical colleges in Sri Lanka. It is really difficult to find ethical or Socially Responsible investments (SRI) for medical education under such circumstances.
The awareness about SAITM is useful for quality service delivery in the country. Similarly, there are so many other important issues affecting society such as corruption, waste, inefficiency, sending innocent ladies for overseas jobs as house maids, lack of proper mechanisms in recruiting for public employment, misuse of power, crimes, drugs, filling paddy fields/wet lands etc. It is essential to marshal the power of young people to address those burning issues which affect society at large.
(The writer is the head of the Department of Economics, University of Colombo and the Vice President of the Sri Lanka Economic Association.)
This article is solely the responsibility of the writer and does not necessarily represent the official views of the institutes.