Sir John Kotalawala Defense University (KDU) received 956 applications for the paid MBBS medical degree course, which costs 12.5 million rupees. Out of these applicants, 120 have been selected to study the course.
Sir John Kotalawala Defense University (KDU) received 956 applications for the MBBS medical degree course worth 12.5 million rupees, of which 868 were from local A/L students and 88 from London A/L students.
From the applicants, 120 students have been selected for the degree, considering their Z-scores and interview marks. Among those selected, 108 applicants are from the local A/L examination, while the remaining 12 have been chosen from those who appeared for equivalent foreign exams.
Among the local students who got selected include students who scored Z-scores ranging from 1.8895 (AAB) to 1.4588 (BBB) in the biology stream for A/L.
When comparing with state universities, according to the cut-off marks released by the University Grants Commission for the year 2022/23, the minimum Z-score required to be selected for a medical degree in a state university was 1.3830 for the newly established Uva Wellassa University under the district quota system for the Nuwara Eliya district.
However, the minimum Z-score required for the most popular universities offering the government medical degree, such as Colombo, Peradeniya, and Sri Jayawardenepura, is above 2.1.
Graduates from KDU will receive government appointments as doctors & will be able to practice medicine without further scrutiny or a exam. They have no requirement sit for the ERPM (Exam to Register to Practice Medicine) by SLMC, which is required for foreign university medical graduates.
According to the people we talked to in the medical field, the chance of a reduction in the quality of doctors practicing medicine in Sri Lanka due to KDU's paid medical degree is highly unlikely, as KDU is well known for maintaining exam standards equivalent to government universities.
