The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake questioned the fairness of KDU admissions where Sri Lankans applying from overseas may gain entry while local students from areas such as Ratmalana, Moratuwa, Jaffna or Galle cannot. He urged the Government to revisit the policy to expand medical training, increase the number of doctors, and retain revenue within Sri Lanka rather than sending students abroad at high cost. He also called for policy changes to position Sri Lanka as a hub, including for education and tourism.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 I appreciate the Hon. Prime Minister’s candid response.
¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, I raise this in Sri Lanka’s interest. Why can we not proactively secure revenue for the country? Regarding the 109 students taken into this university, my question is not about KDU’s general admissions, but that a Sri Lankan can apply from overseas and enter KDU, while a child from Ratmalana or Moratuwa in Colombo District—or from Jaffna or Galle—cannot enter it. Is that not unfair? Therefore, can we not revisit and reform this so we can increase the number of doctors produced in Sri Lanka? Hon. Nalinda Jayatissa has rightly said we should produce the doctors we need and send any surplus abroad. I value that. I also urge that policy changes be made to make Sri Lanka a tourist hub. A Sri Lankan pays GBP 55,000 a year to study at a university like Glasgow; if we go down that route, even the resources we have left will be depleted.
¶ 03 Placed in the Library.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 June 2025 ·No. 1750240054043973 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 June 2025. No. 1750240054043973. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/7721