South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine

South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine

Type	Private
Established	2008 (2008)
President	Dr. Neville Fernando
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Ananda Samarasekara
Academic staff	194
Location	Malabe, Sri Lanka
Campus	Main Campus, 4 acres (Suburban), Malabe
Colors	Blue, green
Affiliations	Buckinghamshire New University, Asian Institute of Technology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy
Website	www.saitm.edu.lk

The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) (originally known as the South Asian Institute of Technology and Management) is a privately owned educational institution providing higher education in Sri Lanka.^[1] It is the first private sector Green Campus to be established in the country.^[2] In July 2016, the Government of Sri Lanka suspended the provision for new admissions at the medical faculty of SAITM.^[3]

History

The South Asian Institute of Technology and Management was established in 2008 by Dr. Neville Fernando with the aim to provide tertiary qualifications in Medicine, Engineering and Information Technology, Management and Finance, and Information Communication Technology and Media. The institute was initially affiliated with the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy (Russia), the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) and Buckinghamshire New University (England), awarding degrees through those respective institutes.^[4] In 2011 SAITM applied for recognition from the University Grants Commission (UGC) as a degree awarding institution, with the ability to award its own degrees.^[5] The UGC, in 2013, granted SAITM a degree awarding status despite protests from the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) and the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA).^[6] SAITM held their first convocation in March 2013, conferring degrees to ten students from the Faculty of ICT and Media and eighteen students from the Faculty of Management and Finance.^[7]

In October 2016 SAITM appointed an acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Deepal Weerasekera,^[8] whilst the current Vice Chancellor, Professor Ananda Samarasekera, was on a leave of absence, relating to his alleged involvement in the Wasim Thajudeen murder case.^[9]

Controversies

Medical qualifications

In 2016 the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and the Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) have both publicly stated that they were opposed the provisional registration of medical graduates from SAITM to practice as doctors in Sri Lanka.^[10][11][12]

Wasim Thajudeen murder case

In the ongoing investigations into the suspected murder of rugby player Wasim Thajudeen the Vice Chancellor of SAITM, Ananda Samarasekera, is suspected for misplacing the bones of the deceased during the post investigations.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} On 3 October 2016 the Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka confiscated 26 human body parts from the Institute's laboratory during a search operation carried out to locate the missing body parts of suspected murder victim Wasim Thajudeen.^[18][19]

Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge murder case

Dr. K. Sunil Kumara, who is accused of giving a false post mortem report on Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge and is accused of removing of Wickrematunge's body parts and Dr. Ananda Samarasekera are both currently working at South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).^[20]

References