It is with much pleasure that I publish these two documents on our very own blog. On Friday the 26th of May, 2016, our colleague Sanath Lamabadusuriya delivered the Convocation Address at the University of Ruhuna.
The two documents referred to are:
1) Introduction by Prof. Lecamwasam, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna.
2) Convocation Address by Prof. Sanath Lamabadusuriya
We are immensely proud of Sanath who was a member of our batch that entered the Colombo Medical Faculty in June 1962.
Introduction by Prof. Lecamwasam, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna.
Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya MBE
Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics, University of Colombo
Founder Professor of Paediatrics, University of Ruhuna
Visiting Professor of Paediatrics, University of Rajarata
The
Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna, most Venerable Rajakeeya Panditha
Pallathara Sumanajothi Nayaka Thero, the 3rd Chancellor and
Sanganayaka of the Southern Province, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Gamini Senanayake,, the Dean of the Faculty of
Medicine, Prof. Sarath Lekamwasam, members of the University Council, Deans of
other Faculties, members of the Senate, members of the academic staff, the
Registrar, the Librarian, members of the non-academic staff, students,
distinguished invitees and parents, I wish to thank you very humbly for the
honour bestowed on me by your university.
It is a great privilege and joy for me to accept this singular honour
for a second time. As a result of my initially long association, lasting more
than a decade with the University of Ruhuna, I am filled with nostalgia, at
this very moment.
Ruhuna
has its own uniqueness. It has produced
a galaxy of stars in the spheres of education, politics, culture, religion and
even revolutions! This inherent uniqueness
is in its people and its soil, one nurturing and enriching the other.
The
citadel of higher education in the Southern Province, the University of Ruhuna,
as it majestically stands today was established in 1978. Its idyllic location with its corridors of
learning is a fitting monument to its architect, the world renowned, Geoffrey
Bawa. From its small beginnings, the
University of Ruhuna has grown exponentially over the last 38 years to be an
equal with any other prestigious university on the stage of academia in Sri
Lanka. It currently has 8 well established faculties as well as other units.
Geoffrey Bawa no doubt dreamt of equally fitting products of eminence in its
totality to leave its premises one day.
You should aspire to be one such group in the year 2016. Yet unwittingly
haven’t we (I say we as I remain very
much a part of the University of Ruhuna, myself) somewhat
lagged behind, stagnated or even strayed during the last 7 decades of higher
education? I refer to our being stifled within the confines of free higher
education. I am certain that the vast majority of you who are present here are like
me, the beneficiaries of free education.
It is a golden opportunity for us to pay a humble tribute to its father
and mentor Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara, a son of Ruhuna. He was born in Randombe,
Ambalangoda in 1884. As a school boy he
attended Wesleyan High School, Ambalangoda and carried away many prizes. The chief guest at one such prize giving, was
the Principal of Richmond College, Galle, a Britisher, who genially commented
to CWW Kannangara that he would need a bullock cart to take away the prizes home.
He also invited him to sit for a scholarship examination, after which he
entered Richmond College and excelled both in studies and sports. When he was
in the school hostel he observed that fee levying students were served with
food of a better quality. Such inequities of the education system prevalent at
that time reflected even in what was served on his plate and to which he was
personally exposed to, gave this great person, food for thought. Later after
being a teacher for a while, he studied law and entered politics. During his
time as Minister of Education he introduced free education in 1945, established
many central schools, founded the University of Peradeniya, improved Pirivena
education and provided a free mid-day meal in schools. It was a vast stride by
any standard; a feat that will remain hard to be beaten. In providing free education Dr. Kannangara
faced much opposition from the media, and even from some members of his own
government as well as the combined Sinhala and Tamil elite of Colombo. At that time the few foreign scholarships
that were available, were invariably awarded to the elitist, affluent students
from Colombo; or to those who had imbibed the ways and beliefs of the British. The rural poor did not have access to these.
Since gaining independence in 1948, successive governments have supported the free
education system which has expanded on an exponential scale and tens of thousands
of rural students have gained access to higher education. In the 1950s, another
southern politician, Dr. W. Dahanayake who as Minister of Education introduced
a bun for the school mid-day meal, after which he was known as “Bunis Mama”!
The University education culminating in a degree is meant
to be the icing on the cake on the path to self-sufficiency and emancipation of
an individual; the resultant fall out on society is the wider and much larger benefit.
An individual student is able to climb the social ladder and reap rewards
thereafter. When the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lakshman Kadirgamar’s
portrait was unveiled in the University of Oxford, he proudly announced that he
was a home baked cake but that education at the University of Oxford was the
icing on the cake.
Now our beloved country is at cross-roads,
after graduating to be classified as a middle income country awaiting an
economic boom. The world super powers are interested in us because of our geographical
location and our potential in terms of human resource. Those of my vintage are too old to benefit
from it. You, the young graduates have
golden opportunities in this awakening.
Whatever your profession, fluency in English and Information Technology
are two vital ingredients. My sincere
message to you is to acquire as much knowledge as possible in these two vital
spheres. My next advice to you is to retain your ability to think out of the
box and to do so in keeping with new trends; never forgetting our national
roots but with an international perspective .
Mr. Steve Jobs of Microsoft fame said “Your work is going
to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to
do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love
what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with
all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
Our
universities continue to produce the largest number of graduates in the
discipline of Arts. Unfortunately, employment opportunities are not
freely available to them. In the past,
in the Arts faculties, the curriculum was such that a lot of free time was
available to them. The politicians
exploited the situation to their advantage and made use of the students to
achieve their ends. To make our
graduates more employable, there may have to be changes in the curriculum such
as the introduction of vocational training.
In
the field of Arts and Humanities, there are more opportunities for learning of
skills and expression of creativity and is far less rigid than the
sciences. The Arts generate
discussion. In this branch of learning various
opinions are expressed and one has to learn to agree to disagree. There is sufficient space for different
ideologies and philosophies to emerge with mutual respect to
all discussants. A society that manifests this,consists of truly educated
people.
In
my own specialty which is Medicine, the country has produced tens of thousands
of doctors. At present we have nine state medical schools and one private
medical school. Many have left our shores seeking greener pastures and have
being able to hold their own among the best. The other side of the coin is the
‘Brain Drain which came in to focus in the late 1960s. The Peradeniya Medical
Faculty was created because our country was short of doctors. Paradoxically,
when the very first batch graduated in January of 1967, they were not offered
employment by the Ministry of Health after they completed their internship.
That was the catalyst for the brain drain. In the United States of America,
Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand some of our own have become
dollar millionaires. However they all
have an important regret in their lives.
Although they are well recognised in their place of work, they always
lack a sense of belonging; money cannot buy them an identity
or recognition. Those of us who have
stayed behind to serve our motherland have the satisfaction of having a sense
of belonging, a sense of fulfillment, and our work being valued by our fellow
countrymen. You have been successful. You will realize one day that Fulfillment
is different to Success. A recipe that contains both is what I hope you will
aim for, and achieve in your lives.
In today’s context I wish to discuss the topic of private
University education. Out of 150,000 students who qualify to enter
universities, only 27,600 gain admission. Is it correct and appropriate that
all students should strive to enter the Universities after the A level
examination? What the country is lacking today is skilled labour. The oil boom
in the Middle East drew thousands of skilled workers from our shores in search
of individual social upliftment. In Sri Lanka too there are ample opportunities
for skilled electricians, motor mechanics etc. The state should open more
technical colleges to cater to this need. To make our graduates more
employable, there may have to be changes in the curricula. Even in the field of
Arts, where time is available, vocational training should be introduced.
At this stage I would like to comment on private medical
education which is a hot topic at the moment. Although thousands qualify to
enter medical faculties only about 1500 gain admission to the state medical
faculties. The more affluent students
who fail to gain admission, travel abroad for medical education. They enter
medical schools in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, China,
Russia and East European countries. There is one medical school in Bangladesh
where the majority of foreign students are from Sri Lanka. Some of these
medical schools function as commercial establishments and offer poor quality
training. At the end of the course they have to leave the country as they
cannot practise their profession in the host country. Over the last few decades, thousands of Sri
Lankan students have travelled abroad to acquire private medical degrees. Some
of these students find it extremely difficult to pass the registration
examination conducted by the Sri Lanka Medical Council when they return to Sri
Lanka. The quality of medical education
is some of these medical schools is so poor, that refresher courses conducted
locally, cannot help them to pass the registration examination. The parents
spend a lot of money for this wasteful exercise. Sometimes a failed investment and sorrow all round.
One of the solutions to this problem is the establishment
of good quality private medical schools in Sri Lanka. The admission criteria should strictly be the
same as for state medical schools and scholarships should be made available for
the less affluent students. It will have
several inherent advantages. The Sri
Lanka Medical Council should closely monitor the admissions and the standards
and it certainly has the capacity to do so. This would have several advantages. It would be less expensive for the
parents, the country would save valuable foreign exchange and better quality
medical graduates would be produced. With the establishment of private medical
schools, more doctors would graduate. We could even attract foreign students from other countries.
Intellectually it is our turn to ‘colonise’ others now!
Sri Lanka has so far successfully established nine state
medical schools. Ruhuna (together with Jaffna) were the third and fourth in
line of succession. With the establishment of private medical schools, more
doctors would be qualifying each year in Sri Lanka. Although job opportunities in the state
sector may not be available to all of them, there are plenty of opportunities
for self-employment. They would replace
the quack doctors to whom unsuspecting rural folk fall prey to. More doctors would
enable quality health care to be provided to the nation. Since they haven’t drained
the coffers of the land for their tertiary education, even if they work abroad
they will only be helping the country similar to the way how unskilled labour
is doing so at present.
It is time we ventured
into new fields such as medical tourism. We have specialist doctors who could
compete with any of the best in the world. So it is up to us to look further,
and not merely through the prism of the 1940s and 1950s. As much as we are
grateful and proud of our past and the journey we have come along, while
safeguarding the rights of the disadvantaged it is up to you, the future
leaders, to now take it on further. Your country asks this of you; you are
after all the cream of your generation.
I wish to mention a few words about the age of retirement
of public servants in Sri Lanka. In the state sector it is 60 years and in the
Universities it is 65 years. In a country like Sri Lanka where there is a
dearth of professionals and academics, should it not be extended beyond 65
years? Some of us retired at the height of our careers and thereby our services
were deprived to the students and patients. In western countries as there is no
retirement age, there are academics and other professionals actively involved
in teaching and research in their 80s.
Finally
I would like to quote Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who was a drop out
of Harvard University. In his convocation address to the University of Harvard
he said “What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so
much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating sometimes
even discouraging but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege and
though I left early I was transformed by my years at Harvard by the friendships
I made and the ideas I worked on. But taking
a serious look back, I do have one big regret. I left Harvard with no real
awareness of the awful inequities in the world, the appalling disparities of
health, wealth and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of
despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and
politics. I got great exposure to advances made in sciences. But humanity’s
greatest advances are not in discoveries, but in how these advances are applied
to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality
health care or broad economic opportunity, reducing inequity is the highest
human achievement”.
Let me conclude by wishing
all of you the very best in your future endeavours. May you have
the strength to be the change that you believe in, if and whenever such
situations arise. Be leaders
not followers. Find fulfillment rather than success. May you and all beings be well and happy.
‘Sabbe
Satta Bhavantu Sukhi Satta’
Thank you.
