Dissecting the rumble at Pera
By Isuri Kaviratne and Nadia
Fazlulhaq
The nearly six-month strike by the medical students
of the Peradeniya University was called off 14 days ago, after the
resignation of the Medical Faculty's Dean, Prof. Chula Gunasekare.
The on-and-off strike by the Students' Union of
the Medical Faculty followed the introduction of 19 degree courses
including paramedical courses such as nursing, pharmacy, medical
laboratory technology, radio therapy and physical therapy at the
Medical Faculty last year, The Kandy Times learns.
With the resignation of the Dean, the Heads of
the 18 departments of the Medical Faculty appointed Prof. Channa
Ratnatunga as the Acting Dean, the university's Vice Chancellor
Harischandra Abeygunawardena said.
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One of the many posters that were seen at
the Medical Faculty. |
According to the Vice Chancellor, the strike had
been settled with his university signing a Memorandum of Understanding
to lease the Rajarata University's Polgolla premises of the Science
Faculty to house the paramedical students temporarily.
Recalling the events that led to the strike, the
spokesperson for the Medical Faculty Students' Union (MFSU), Anupa
Indika Herath said they received information about the paramedical
courses indirectly. "When we discussed the matter with the
administration there weren't any direct explanations and as such
we went on strike for the first time at the end of February 2006
demanding that such paramedical courses be conducted at a separate
Science Faculty and not be part of the Medical Faculty due to lack
of facilities," he said.
Then on March 27, the MFSU was sent a letter by
the university administration that the students were correct and
a separate faculty was needed for paramedical students. But a few
months later these students were admitted to the Medical Faculty,
he explained, stressing that what they had hoped for was a separate
faculty for paramedical courses under a separate Dean.
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Anupa Indika Herath |
The paramedical students were admitted on July
17, and that was when the medical students launched the second strike,
Anupa said, adding, "discussions were held with the Vice Chancellor
and the Dean and also the Chairman of the University Grants Commission
and the Minister of Education. We had a good response from the other
parties except the Dean."
Once again, the students boycotted lectures on
August 4 and the Medical Faculty was closed. The MFSU spokesman
said the unresponsive attitude of the Dean compelled the students
to call for the resignation of the Dean. "We have nothing against
the paramedical course, the degree or the concept. This will help
develop the health sector but not at the cost of the medical degree
because then all students will suffer due to inadequate facilities,"
he said.
Dr. Chula Gunasekare, the Dean who resigned, said,
the medical students were selfish to go on strike. "I received
a number of threats in the past few months but that's normal in
this kind of situation. There are other people who don't want these
courses being started and they have used the students as pawns,"
he said.
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Dr. Chula Gunasekare |
"The strike is mainly about maintaining the
high position of doctors. They do not want a Professor in Nursing
competing for the posts of Dean or Vice Chancellor in future,"
he added.
MFSU President, Dhanushka Wijekoon said that speculation
that they were against paramedical students was unfair. "We
have nothing against them. We treated them well when they first
came here. No one said our strike is unreasonable. Everyone knows
how insufficient the facilities are in the Medical Faculty. Many
people tried to influence us but the decisions taken were of the
medical students themselves," he said, adding that they do
not mind sharing the resources as long as their lectures do not
clash. But that should be only for a short period as a temporary
solution.
"The Dean's involvement in this matter was
not satisfactory. He didn't implement the decisions taken at Board
meetings. Six weeks passed after the closure of the university but
the Dean didn't get involved directly and finally resigned,"
he explained.
Dr. Ranjan Fernando of the Kandy General Hospital
where the medical students have their clinicals, said the strike
was justifiable as it was illogical to accommodate more students
at the Medical Faculty without providing enough infrastructure and
lecturers.
"I heard that the Dean had written a letter
to the UGC saying that there were not enough facilities to accept
more students to the Medical Faculty. So how can these other students
stay in the same faculty," Dr. Fernando asked.
Accepting the concept of putting medical and paramedical
students together to get to know each others' work and responsibilities,
he however added, "It's good but only with adequate facilities,
lecturers and resources."
The staff of the Medical Faculty declined to comment
on the issue.
Meanwhile, University Grants Commission Chairman
Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said that had the discussions between
the students and the administration succeeded, the result would
have been more acceptable. "The resignation of the Dean solved
the problem, but we should make sure that something like that will
not happen again."
A Dean should have freedom to work in his faculty
while the students too have a right to express their views, he said,
adding, "It's our duty to show the correct way to the students
and it's not that difficult to discuss with them either."
"We cancelled plans to move the paramedical
courses to Polgolla. The first few months of the course would be
dedicated to English and Computer Studies. We can have that in the
university premises without disturbing the medical students. In
the meantime, we hope to build a separate faculty for paramedical
students. We will start it as soon as possible."
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