The government was not able to establish the Malabe Private Medical College and continue at the speed it wanted, due to the opposition from the students movement, the public and academics, says the National Movement for the Protection of Free Education (NMPFE).
If not, at the speed Minister S.B. Dissanayake is going “like a bull in a china shop” there was a chance for private universities to “spring up like mushrooms” in Sri Lanka, the National Organizer of the Socialist Students Union (SSU) Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said.
Representing the SSU at a NMPFE press conference today, the JVP Central Committee member conceded that they were unable to completely put a stop to the privatization of higher education, however said they succeeded in developing a general opinion in society against it.
“That is the reason why there is a response when state universities attempt to give away even one degree for money, and the Faculty Board of the Peradeniya Medicine Faculty takes a decision against it,” he said.
Therefore there are a lot of victories for society in this, Dr. Jayatissa said.
