Today, a handful of Sri Lankan students who can afford to do so, migrate to other countries, not realising a future in Sri Lanka. In that respect, Dr Paneetha Hettiarachchi is a unique person who was recently graduated from Sir John Kotelawala Academy of Sri Lanka, as a medical doctor. Nowadays, we very rarely come across an overseas born and bred, realising a future in Sri Lanka. With the globalisation of new avenues, the number of students who are leaving Sri Lanka for better opportunities has been increased. According to Migration Data Portal 2020, worldwide international student enrolments have reached 5.3 million in 2017, up from 2 million in 2000 worldwide (Policy discussion brief of Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka)
Paneetha believes in the Walt Disney saying that “all of our dreams can come true if only we have the courage to pursue them”
Paneetha was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. After her primary, secondary and University education, she embarked on a journey to Sri Lanka for furthering her Medical Education. Not knowing the great challenges ahead, not doubting impeding communication gap in Sinhala language and facing the cultural shock, she landed in Sri Lanka, in the year 2014. She did so, refusing the offers from other universities. She accepted the offer from, South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine- SAITM in Sri Lanka.
At the initiation of SAITM, there were many demonstrations against it, as usual in the country. Paneetha kept the head high and focused on tight control. Paneetha should be an example to those students who are leaving the country for better opportunities. While a vast number of educated young men and women flee Sri Lanka for greener pastures due to lack of opportunities in Sri Lanka, Dr Paneetha made a sacrifice to come to this country.
According to the Policy discussion paper of the IPS, there is a very small inflow of student migrants to Sri Lanka and is not tracked nor monitored or recorded.
Sri Lanka is identified as one of the best destinations for higher education among international students, a reality that is not popularised in the world arena. Paneetha believes the medical education and the clinical experience obtained along with that have made her an internationally recognised doctor. Most of the doctors born in Sri Lanka, who are working overseas, value their medical education Sri Lanka. Paneetha is so proud to let the world know that her journey to Sri Lanka had made her the best doctor she ever wanted to be.
Currently Paneetha is on her internship at Horana Base Hospital. Her grandfather, Deshabandu Indradasa Hettiarachchi, had been a pioneer in the physical development of this Hospital, apart from his active participation in other development activities of Kalutara District. Let’s hope that Paneetha will be an inspiration to those who consider coming to Sri Lanka for educational and work purposes. Sri Lanka cannot expect to develop economically and socially without such committed young minds like Dr Paneetha.
Mahila / December 23, 2022
Very Good indeed!! New Zealand to Sri Lanka!!?? WOW
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Mallaiyuran / December 23, 2022
Rubbish!
No points at all in the entire essay.
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Nathan / December 23, 2022
Mallaiyuran, Short and sweet. That is what I like to read from you!
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SJ / December 24, 2022
N
Short and sweet is most welcome from some around here.
But is there sense regardless of length?
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Raj-UK / December 23, 2022
”Sri Lanka is identified as one of the best destinations for higher education among international students…..” Any statistics or evidence to support this claim?
This student may have had her own agenda to return to SL but I doubt anybody else who has the privilege to attend an accepted foreign uni would select a SL uni instead. What rubbish is this author talking about? Is it about a person or the quality of SL higher education?
SAITM gave some hope to those who couldn’t afford foreign education but, as usual, the selfish GMOA put an end to it. My friends would have gladly sent their children to SL universities but it was not possible & those who managed to scrape up the funds for foreign education are now up a gum tree, thanks to the blundering GR & his ‘viyatmaga’ bum sucking cronies.
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leelagemalli / December 23, 2022
Dear Raj-United Kingdom;
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I hope the writer can answer your question ASAP. Medical students from Germany and several other countries (their fellow white Europeans) complained that Sri Lanka’s hospital hierarchy was too primitive.
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Many people who have visited their country share their experiences through video sessions. I was with them once when some were explaining the exp to some people in Sri Lanka. Some say that many MBBS doctors are shy to communicate in English. And there is an incredible hierarchy of hospital staff members.
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Senior doctors in teaching hospitals are branded as truly ignorant bastards who don’t even respect general guidelines, and some even attack their junior staff members with stethoscopes.
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And they strongly criticized the gap between male and female candidates in the country’s hospitals. I think women have had to fight against male dominance in Sri Lankan culture more than they have ever achieved.
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Sinhala_Man / December 24, 2022
Dear LM,
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Please be consistent! You have said, “MBBS doctors are shy to communicate in English.”.
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They’re doctors, for God’s sake, not scholars of English.
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I’m a teacher of English. I communicate effectively in English and Sinhalese. You have had much to say about my not wanting to WRITE in Sinhalese.
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Panini Edirisinhe
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SJ / December 23, 2022
About the academic standard of the Sri Lankan university degrees, one can check on the performance of our graduates in the sciences and professional programmes at universities across the world.
There is in my personal view a significant drop in standards since universities were bullied into the Course Unit system and forced to increase intake, both with inadequate resources.
Still, several top universities happily welcome our graduates for research studies, and graduates in the fields referred to rarely find difficulty in finding employment.
There are problems of employment for graduates in the humanities– partly because of over production and partly because many programmes are not designed to meet employment opportunities.
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Sadly, some who callously run down our degrees are themselves products of our universities.
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Before hurling insult, one may kindly check on standards and recognition of degrees by reputed global institutions.
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leelagemalli / December 24, 2022
SJ,
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I don’t think it is fair to anyone’s knowledge to cite only a few students who have done research studies abroad. Indeed, the poorest Malawians and even Lesotho or Ivory Coast have the cream of the best students who can be awarded the world’s best scholarships in science/engineering and literature in many prestigious colleges and universities.
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What should matter is the percentage of good and world renowned students. Why can’t the students of Sri Lanka even compare with the lower universities in India today? Internationally, ratings have dropped drastically.
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If the levels are so high as you say, why has the ranking fallen so deeply in recent years compared to a decade ago?
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SJ / December 23, 2022
The country was in a position to offer higher education in certain faculties between 40 and 50 years ago.
But there was a political issue.
Far too many of our school leavers whose paper qualifications were adequate for university admission in those disciplines. Thus there was resentment about offering places to foreigners, and fear that fee pay9ng students will receive preferential treatment.
Nepal and Bangladesh which were far behind us at the time are now offering places in medical sciences for certain to out students.
Emulating these countries requires sound policy.
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Also in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Peradeniya Engineering faced a staff shortage. It was offered the service of teachers from IITs in India for short periods. They were good and dedicated teachers.
Still, I can assure anyone that we maintained far better academic standards than the IITs at the time.
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The broad-based degree programmes offered in professional degree programmes produced excellent graduates, especially in our context where often a professional had to address problems from other disciplines.
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SJ / December 23, 2022
Far too many of our school leavers whose paper qualifications were adequate for university admission in those disciplines were denied admission for shortage of places.
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Mallaiyuran / December 24, 2022
Far too many of our school leavers whose paper qualifications were adequate for university admission in those disciplines were denied admission for shortage of places.
Probably that is what the standardization is, I guess. Am I correct? Or this one of your sarcastic comedies as frequently you say (drought of humor) after you goof or being nasty? I have been failing to get one piece of information. What is the percentage of the Tamils, graduated, get jobs in Appe Aanduwa and how many Sinhala graduates get? Could you explain to this author in detail so we can start to discuss that matter also here that why were you standing up and shouting when UOJ was trying to consider Dr. Thiyagalingam as the VC and tell him where you did your post-graduation in science and where did you study Marx’s economics. You know, some brain parallelized Sadampies, as Leader Prabha said, cannot remember anything happened before two weeks ago. But thank God for you being lucky because most of what you said and did is recorded in CT. So, if do not remember your just refer to this author the matters discussed about UOJ in CT.
Thank you for enlightening the writer!
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Native Vedda / December 24, 2022
“Far too many of our school leavers whose paper qualifications were adequate for university admission in those disciplines were denied admission for shortage of places.”
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Hence SJ’s darling weeping widow introduced standardization to academically punish those who did very well in those years.
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Even after many years of failure in every field of this island dumbasses still believe pursuing the same old racist and discriminatory policies would help to develop the country, without accepting the fact that this island is broke.
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Udaya Gamanpilla stated in The Morning news paper that “if a nomination is being made to the CC along racial lines, or on an ethnic basis, then the very objective of the CC being independent is destroyed”.
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Okay then, be secular and not on racial line why not appoint all those 10-members to the council chosen from non Sinhalese community?
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Why are the racists always found to be very stupid as well?
Nimal is not a racist.
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cugan / December 23, 2022
If SATIM or more medical colleges would have been opened lot of dispora children would have persuaded and more revenue for govnt.
But that lady Dr from UK should concentrate on medical colleges rather than Ganja and prostitution, our country tourists are different from Thai Balli Philippians etc
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Sinhala_Man / December 24, 2022
Sir John Kotelawala Academy of Sri Lanka!
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Further proof of militarisation!
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This is where public money is going! I acknowledge that I haven’t read carefully.
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Panini Edirisinhe (NIC 483111444V)
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RBH59 / December 24, 2022
An Inward Student Migration To Sri Lanka – A possibility?
500 doctors from state medical institutions have migrated abroad in the first eight months of 2022
They are often the first victims of Bankruptsy,
That means they can see good by migrating than that they canot see in here. Greatest nations are Known by how they treat their weakest inhabitants.”
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