As the Cabinet of Ministers has approved for the admission of local students for the MBBS medical degree programme at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU)student unions of the government universities are planning to protest.

Private medical education has been a widely debated topic for many years and many attempts to provide private medical universities through the state university system have failed.
Critics argue that privatization of medical education restricts access to higher education for students from lower-income backgrounds who cannot afford the high fees charged by private medical colleges. This exacerbates existing inequalities in the education system.

The admissions will be carried out on a payment basis and based on ‘Z’ score at G.C.E. Advanced Level and other specified qualifications, the Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

The General Sir John Kotalawala Defense University (KDU) was declared a University by the General Sir John Kotalawala State Defense Training Institute (Amendment) Act No. 27 of 1988.

Meanwhile, the Faculty of Medicine of the university was established in the year 2011 to train cadet officers as medical professionals and award degrees in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) as per the service requirements of the Armed Services.

Armed Forces

Accordingly, the university currently grants the opportunity to pursue medical degrees for local students who join the armed forces or police as a cadet and qualified foreign students only, on a payment basis.

The proposal to allow the admission of local students selected through a set of criteria, for the MBBS medical degree programme at the university under a payment basis, was presented to the Cabinet of Ministers by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.The implementation of this proposal will be will be a radical departure from the existing system.