The Joint Council for Professions of Supplementary Medicine has issued an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, warning that the Ministry of Health’s latest recruitment policy for Allied Health Professionals poses a direct threat to the future of Sri Lanka’s Free Education system.
In a strongly worded letter, Council President Ravi Kumudesh argues that the new recruitment framework—though presented as routine—has effectively reduced public sector opportunities for graduates of State Universities while expanding access for graduates from fee‑paying institutions.
The Council states that the Government has failed to restore approved cadre positions in the Ministry of Health, resulting in an artificially limited number of vacancies. With no expansion of the public service cadre, State University graduates—who enter through one of the world’s most competitive merit‑based admission systems—now face shrinking opportunities in the very public sector their education was designed to serve.
“This represents a profound departure from the principles upon which Sri Lanka’s Free Education system was established,” the letter notes, stressing that the issue extends beyond Allied Health recruitment and could soon affect graduates in medicine, engineering, science, agriculture, law, education and other fields.
The Council has requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to present evidence and discuss the broader national implications. It has also forwarded the communication to national and international organizations concerned with higher education, equal opportunity and educational rights.
The letter calls on the Government to clarify whether it officially endorses a policy that weakens employment prospects for State University graduates and asks what immediate steps will be taken to safeguard the integrity of Sri Lanka’s Free Education model.
The Prime Minister’s response is awaited.
Subject: Urgent Request for Intervention: Recruitment Policy Undermining Sri Lanka's Free University Education System and Equal Access to Public Employment
To:
Hon. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
*Re: Recruitment Policy for Allied Health Graduates – Is the Erosion of Sri Lanka's Free Education System Now Official Government Policy?*
I write on behalf of the Joint Council of Supplementary Medical Professionals to express our profound concern regarding the recent recruitment policy adopted by the Ministry of Health for Allied Health Professionals.
Although this recruitment exercise has been presented to the public as a routine administrative process, its practical effect is far more significant. The policy systematically reduces the already limited public sector employment opportunities available to graduates produced through Sri Lanka's State University system while simultaneously expanding access to those same positions for graduates from fee-paying university systems.
This development raises fundamental questions concerning the future of Sri Lanka's internationally respected Free Education Policy, which has, for decades, been the foundation of social mobility, meritocracy and equal opportunity.
Our concern is not directed against graduates of any particular university. Every graduate who has obtained a legally recognized qualification deserves fair and equal treatment.
However, the present policy cannot be viewed in isolation.
The Government has failed to restore the approved cadre positions within the Ministry of Health, thereby maintaining an artificially restricted number of vacancies despite the growing national demand for Allied Health Professionals.
Consequently, the limited employment opportunities available within the existing public service structure are becoming increasingly inaccessible to graduates produced by the State University system funded by public resources.
In practical terms, graduates who entered universities through one of the world's most competitive merit-based admission systems, completed rigorous four-year honours degree programmes, fulfilled extensive clinical training requirements, and graduated under nationally regulated academic standards now find their opportunities progressively diminished through executive recruitment policies.
This represents a profound departure from the principles upon which Sri Lanka's Free Education system was established.
As Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, you carry the constitutional and moral responsibility of safeguarding the integrity, credibility and future of Sri Lanka's public higher education system.
Accordingly, we respectfully request your response to the following fundamental questions.
Does the Government officially endorse a recruitment policy that progressively weakens employment opportunities available to graduates produced through Sri Lanka's Free Education system?
Does your Government consider it acceptable that publicly funded State University graduates should compete for an increasingly shrinking public sector while the State simultaneously facilitates greater access for graduates from fee-paying institutions without first expanding the approved public service cadre?
If this is not the policy of your Government, we respectfully ask what immediate steps you intend to take to protect the integrity of Sri Lanka's Free Education system and to prevent the continued erosion of employment opportunities available to State University graduates.
This issue extends far beyond Allied Health recruitment.
It concerns the future credibility of Sri Lanka's entire public university system.
If this precedent remains unchallenged, tomorrow it may equally affect graduates in medicine, engineering, science, agriculture, education, law and every other publicly funded professional discipline.
We therefore respectfully request an urgent meeting with you to present the relevant evidence and discuss the wider national implications of this policy.
We are also forwarding this communication to national and international organizations concerned with higher education, professional standards, equal opportunity and the protection of educational rights because we believe this issue raises important questions regarding the long-term sustainability of Sri Lanka's Free Education model.
We look forward to your considered response.
Yours faithfully,
Ravi Kumudesh
President
Joint Council for Professions of Supplementary Medicine,
Sri Lanka
Cc:
1. H.E. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of Sri Lanka
2. Hon. Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Minister of Health and Mass Media
3. Secretary, Ministry of Health
4. Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC)
5. Secretary, Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
6. UNESCO Regional Office for South Asia
7. UNESCO National Commission for Sri Lanka
8. UNICEF Sri Lanka
9. International Labour Organization (ILO) – Sri Lanka Office
10. Commonwealth Secretariat (Education Division)
11. Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)
12. World Federation for Medical Education (WFME)
13. International Association of Universities (IAU)
14. Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)
15. South Asian Quality Assurance Network (SAQAN)
16. Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission
17. Government Medical officers Association
18. Academy of Health Professionals Sri Lanka