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Ruhuna University bans 2019/20 batch medical u’grads from premises

13 Oct 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Ruhuna University administration has decided to ban the 2019/2020 student group of the Faculty of Medicine (43rd batch) from entering faculty premises or any other premises belonging to the university with immediate effect until further notice, due to alleged incidents of students of the 43rd batch ragging freshmen, and the conclusion of their relevant yearly exams. Speaking to The Morning, Ruhunu University Medical Faculty Dean Prof. Indralal Vasantha Devasiri said that the 43rd batch of students had recently organised a welcome party for the 44th batch of students. However, as the university had been closed for some time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said that by the time of the said party, the 43rd batch of students was at the end of their second study year, while the 44th batch of students was at the end of their first study year.  “The Medical Faculty is generally very different from other faculties. When there is an event like this, we monitor everything and even examine the agenda. With regard to this event, the organisers were mentored by the Dean and the demonstrators. When I was going over the agenda, I noticed there was to be a speech from the President of the Medical Faculty Students’ Union. We usually regard the Students’ Union President as a certain type of political representation. Therefore, we decided to not permit the speech. When the organisers said that that could not be done, I removed it from the agenda,” he said.  On the day of the welcome party, Prof. Devasiri said that he was informed by the 43rd batch students that they had subsequently decided to keep the Students’ Union President’s speech on the agenda during a batch meeting. He also said that he had informed the organisers that if the speech could not be removed, the welcome party would have to be suspended, after which the students had agreed to remove the Students’ Union President’s speech and proceed with the party. On the same day, he said that the Students’ Union President had called him and questioned how his speech was removed from the agenda.  “During the party, the welcome speech was made by a Students’ Union member, and not by a student representative. It was also announced that the university administration had suddenly removed the Students’ Union President’s speech from the agenda. When it was announced, the teachers and I immediately left the event.  “Also, something suspicious that we observed was that all the first-year male students were wearing black trousers and white long-sleeved shirts, while the female students were wearing sarees during this event. Such dress codes are known to be a part of ragging, and we felt that it could be a part of ragging,” said Prof. Devasiri. Taking the above matters into account, he said that the university administration including the Vice Chancellor had decided to declare the university premises out of bounds for the 43rd batch of students from the Medical Faculty, with effect from 3 October until further notice. He also said that the said batch of students were to be asked to leave the premises anyway as they had completed their year-end exams, as it usually takes about three months to resume academic activities after such an exam. Therefore, he said that the 43rd batch of students is most likely to be called back to the faculty in January 2023. Meanwhile, the University’s Medical Faculty’s Students’ Union, on its official Facebook page, had claimed that the university administration is attempting to defame the university by propagating false claims of ragging-related incidents. The union had also stated that the university administration should take steps to remove the out-of-bounds declaration imposed on the 43rd batch of students. Against the backdrop of several parties calling for the elimination of ragging in universities and higher education institutions, clashes and issues related to ragging were recently reported in several universities and higher education institutions such as the Universities of Peradeniya, Sri Jayewardenepura, and Kelaniya, the Open University, and the Institute of Technology of the University of Moratuwa. The incidents related to ragging in universities and education institutions were discussed in Parliament recently, during which several MPs including Minister of Education Dr. Susil Premajayantha, State Minister of Higher Education Dr. Suren Raghavan, and State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon pointed out that due to incidents related to ragging in universities, students are being subjected to great injustice and that therefore, urgent measures should be taken to prevent such incidents from taking place. Ragging has been frequently associated with a broad spectrum of physical, behavioural, emotional, and social problems among victims and is attributed to the increased risk of suicide and drop-outs among students attending universities and other higher education institutions. Many senior students have reportedly said that they do not wish to rag juniors but have to do so due to peer pressure. Also, although some new students or freshmen were reportedly acceptable with being ragged by their seniors, other students despised it. There have been several incidents where ragging-related incidents resulted in suicide attempts and even the deaths of students in a few circumstances.  


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