By Aisha Nazim-March 24, 2014
The Kotalawela Defence University (KDU) is yet another ploy of the government in its attempts to sell medical degrees to the masses, this time, at a price of Rs 2 million, the Inter University Students' Federation (IUSF) alleged.Addressing a media briefing last morning (24), IUSF Convener Najith Indika stated that though the KDU demands a student to conscript for a certain number of years as they are trained to be doctors for the armed forces. Graduates can free themselves of this contract if they pay Rs 2 million after the completing their degree.
Indika claimed that the Parliament passed a special Act last Thursday (20) in which the KDU was officially recognized as a medical degree awarding institute.
"It initially started off as an institute which provided higher education for our security forces. However, this was recently converted into an official university and is open to other students as well – it's not limited to security forces alone," he said.
When the KDU was officially opened in 2008, the government stated that it was initiated to produce more graduates and medics for the security forces.
"However, we know that this university isn't exclusively for the armed forces, as anyone can get into it, though it is under the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Higher Education Ministry as well. Despite falling under the purview of the higher educational authorities, it runs independently as it belongs to the Defence Ministry; the student intakes and other procedures are completely different from the other State universities we have here," Najith said, adding that no one is speaking up against this university as it is under the Defence Ministry's purview and the public is afraid to do so.
