Aggrieved students file FR case, parents write to HR commission over non-acceptance for KDU Medical Degree

University-qualified G.C.E. Advanced Level (G.C.E. A/L) students, who have been deprived of applying for the Medical Degree at the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) by a sudden decision taken by the State, have filed a fundamental rights case in the Supreme Court, which will be taken up on 7 July.

The KDU has been enrolling students for a fee (Day Scholars) to different courses of study, admitting over 250 university students to follow the Medical Degree during the last two years following approvals from the relevant authorities, including the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), and after constructing their own hospital. Similarly, the KDU called for applications via its official website from university-qualified students on 21 May for the 2025 Medical intake. 

However, the next day, Defence Deputy Minister Aruna Jayasekera in a special statement in Parliament informed that local students will not be enrolled for the Medical Degree and only foreign students and Cadets will be enrolled. Surprisingly, no reason was given in the brief statement made by the Deputy Minister.

The announcement came as a shock to a large number of students who were planning to apply to the KDU for the Medical Degree. Aggrieved students who had already applied have now filed a fundamental rights case at the Supreme Court, which will be taken up on 7 July.

Meanwhile, a group of parents of the aggrieved students has also made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.

Subsequent to this announcement, there has been mounting opposition from sections of the general public and from Opposition Parliamentarians demanding reasons for the ad hoc decision by the Government. This prompted Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who is the Higher Education Minister, and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa to cite the inability to provide the required internships as one of the reasons for the decision. However, what the PM and Health Minister is unaware is that all these students, if deprived of entry to the KDU, will be pursuing their medical dreams overseas in countries like China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Belarus, etc. in universities recognised by the SLMC and return in five years, at which point the Government is compelled to provide the required internship.

Another reason cited by the PM was that the KDU Constitution does not have a provision to enrol civilian students. However, by its judgement dated 4 July 2023 in Case No. CA/WRIT/528/2021, the Court of Appeal inter alia held that the KDU has the mandate to enrol civilian students and dismissed the application.

Students and parents alleged that it is also a known fact that the KDU has obtained a Rs. 33 billion loan from the National Savings Bank (NSB) to build the state-of-the-art hospital. Capital repayment of this loan is from September 2023 and will go on until 2031 and is approximately Rs. 369 million per month – a staggering amount for the KDU, which will only get worse if they are deprived of their income via the annual medical intake, which is around Rs. 2 billion. The eventual burden will then fall on the Treasury and the Lankan taxpayer – something the country’s economy cannot bear at this moment of time.

They also alleged depriving university-qualified local students to follow the Medical Degree at the KDU amounts to an arbitrary, retroactive denial of legitimate expectations and is procedurally flawed. It has resulted in a grave violation of the fundamental rights of the affected students, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Moreover, the fact that foreign nationals are still allowed to apply for the MBBS program while citizens of Sri Lanka are categorically excluded, raises serious concerns of unconstitutional discrimination and suggests a policy bias that is manifestly unfair and irrational.