GMOA wants duty free cars, but not private universities

20 December 2015 06:30 pm - 1 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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he Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) threw a tantrum when the government proposed to abolish duty free duty vehicle permits granted to certain categories of public servants. After the threat of a strike by the doctors, the government backtracked. Since there is hardly any link between doctors’ duty free car permits and patients’ welfare, the GMOA’s trade union action was one purely driven by pecuniary interests of its members.

On the other hand, professionals in the government sector, including doctors, are paid abysmally low salaries (though, doctors on their part have opportunity to make money through private practice, a luxury most other professionals don’t have ).

Like we, the journalists (who are equally underpaid) say, bylines cannot buy groceries, professional esteem alone won’t help in an increasingly materialistic world.

However, the same GMOA has been up in arms against private medical universities, with their self serving logic being that the provision of medical education, or for that matter any other university level education, should be the monopoly of the state.

GMOA’s pursuit of duty free car permits (though it may have ethical implications) is not different from the logical conduct of any other professional body that lobbies for the interests of its members. But, its other campaign to shut off many other thousands of desirable individuals from joining the medical profession through private universities is a far more sinister manoeuvring; it is anti- business, anti- free market and purely selfish.

Equally incorrigible expressions are being used to justify its logic. Last week, the health ministry agreed to accommodate medical students of a private medical college in Malabe for clinical practices at government hospitals in Avissawella and Kaduwela. That was as a result of a fundamental rights petition filed by the students.

"Doctors, are paid abysmally low salaries (though, doctors on their part have opportunity to make money through private practice, a luxury most other professionals don’t have )"

Later, a spokesman for the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) alleged that Health Minister’s daughter-in-law and the offspring of several other politicians are studying in the same medical college, to suggest that hence the ministry’s interest to provide facilities.

This skewed logic is what you would hear from women gossiping by the village well. The problem is that a significant portion of our university students did not leave that mental baggage at home, when they come to universities.

Whether the Health Minister or his grandma has relatives studying among hundreds of other students does not make a difference. While his relative may benefit, so would hundreds of other children from Sri Lankan parents.

A rather more pertinent question would be as to why the health ministry, which has abundant resources to utilize, has been hesitant until a Court ordered to that effect. (Through its latest measures, not only would the health ministry help create intellectual capital, but also would be compensated for the resources that it provides.)

The answer is instructive: a cabal that is pursuing its monopolistic interests, in the guise of protecting free education or free health care, has taken an entire country hostage. The government simply does not have the political will to face it.

Counter intentionally, though the self serving monopolistic impulses are high in the medical sector, it is also one that is least affected qualitatively by this ruinous practice, thanks to medical colleges in government universities still continuing to produce quality graduates. Added to that is sizeable funds allocated by successive governments to sustain free health care.

"Government should expand free education, quantitatively there by admitting more students to universities"

However, the same cannot be said about many other sectors, ranging from academia, civil service to foreign service; inadequacies of all of which are partly a reflection of the poor quality of university education.

The state monopoly in education would only perpetuate this dysfunctional status quo. Free education should not be an excuse for sub standard education. It should also not be an excuse to deprive hundreds of thousands of others who are equally eager to have an education and willing to pay for that.
The other argument that the government should expand free education, quantitatively there by admitting more students to universities, though sounds tempting, is hollow in practice. Sri Lankan universities annually churn out thousands of sub standards graduates who then take to the streets demanding jobs. An Increase in those numbers, without a qualitative change in education does not help the country; rather it creates fertile grounds for social tension. Also, qualitative reforms are time consuming and, of course, hard to sell to university communities who are inured to the current rot.

The most effective means to expand education opportunities to cater to hundreds of thousands of other students is to encourage private investment in higher education and provide tuition fee loans for the students who wish to study. There is a strong economic rationale as well: According to UNICEF statistics, an estimated 16,500 Sri Lankan students went abroad for higher education in 2010. (According to UNICEF, 12,975 in 2007, 15,270 in 2008, 16,195 in 2009 and 16,510 in 2010 went abroad for higher education). Also, according to conservative estimates they spend $ 145 billion rupees annually on higher education. (That is more than the amount the government allocates for higher education annually).
However, those numbers cannot talk sense to the university students who take to the streets at the drop of a hat.

"The vernacular education system, at schools and universities produced thousands and hundreds of thousands of sub standard graduates and students, respectively. Understandable enough, they found it hard to find productive employment opportunities"

They came to universities carrying their own insecurities; in the universities, they were indoctrinated by an antiquated ideology, which they later imposed on the others, turning universities into monolithic entities.

Universities, on their part, failed to provide modernist, cosmopolitan exposure to their students. Instead, students were condemned to cram from 40-year old text books. When they got out, the private sector shunned most of them, for they brought no employable skills. Finally, the government was compelled to employee a large swathe of them. At the end, free education has degenerated into one of free-loading. One reason that the government cannot pay competitive salaries for professionals is that the government sector is bloated with free-loading passengers, from the bottom to the top. Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa doubled the size of the government sector, filling its ranks , largely with candidates who are otherwise unemployable elsewhere – including 50,000 unemployed university graduates. That partly explains the impending crisis in government pensions.

The deep-rooted rot in the university education cannot be addressed overnight. Though, more budgetary allocation in education would always be welcome, the recent history of Sri Lanka would reveal such investments may not generate intended outcome, rather the exact opposite.

For Instance, Sri Lanka invested heavily in education in 1950s and the 60s, however such investments, though raised basic social indicators, hardly created economic growth. Rather, a decade later, we witnessed the first leftist insurgency.

The predicament at that time can be explained in two counts. First, obsession with social investment left the government with no money to invest in physical infrastructure, which is pre-requisite for creating economic growth. Also, our economic policies at the time were not conducive for private investment, therefore, hardly any new productive jobs were created for the newly educated youth.

Second factor is equally important. By 1956, Sri Lankan education completed its shift to vernacular. By the sixties, universities have moved to the Sinhala/Tamil medium. The vernacular education system, at schools and universities produced thousands and hundreds of thousands of sub standard graduates and students, respectively. Understandable enough, they found it hard to find productive employment opportunities.

This second problem remains even as of now -- and wouldl be so as long as vernacular languages remain the primary medium of instruction in our universities and schools. No amount of increase in investment in education can fix that mess- until the self evident remedy is implemented, i.e. the return to English medium.

However, the rot in the public universities should not be an excuse to obstruct private education.

In the ideal scenario, competition would provide stimulus for the public universities to get their acts together.

Free education is a noble concept, from which all of us have benefitted, but it should operate alongside the free market. It should not be an excuse for sub standard outcome, deprive hundred thousands of others of their pursuit of education. Also, it should not be a façade that would allow a few, who benefitted from it, to free-load on the rest of the public.

Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @RangaJayasuriya on twitter

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Comments - 1

Afzal Tuesday, 22 December 2015 06:45 PM

Fantastic Article, I hope the rotten lot will read this.

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GMOA wants duty free cars, but not private universities

"Doctors, are paid abysmally low salaries (though, doctors on their part have opportunity to make money through private practice, a luxury most other professionals don’t have )"

"Government should expand free education, quantitatively there by admitting more students to universities"

"The vernacular education system, at schools and universities produced thousands and hundreds of thousands of sub standard graduates and students, respectively. Understandable enough, they found it hard to find productive employment opportunities"

Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @RangaJayasuriya on twitter

Comments - 1

Add comment

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