This week’s Cyber conference jointly organized by the Ministry of Mass Media, the National Development Media Center and the Government Information Department discussed the future vision of the Wickramarachchi Ayurveda University. Vice Chancellor Prof. Janitha Liyanage, Member of the Governing Council Mr. Prashantha Lal de Alwis and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology Dr.W. M. B. Mr. Weerasuriya participated in an interactive panel discussion.
Inaugurating the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, stated that this was the youngest university in Sri Lanka. The Gampaha Wickramarachchi University for Indigenous medicine was recently inaugurated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in March this year. It is their earnest wish and vision to see that this university becomes a center of excellence in indigenous medicine studies in South Asia.
“This university was established to promote indigenous science in Sri Lanka as well as abroad. Currently, the Medical University has introduced seven courses.” She also stated that by the end of the course, the university envisages to add to the society not only competent and qualified job seekers but individuals who will go on to create jobs in this field, for which Sri Lanka as a nation is famous for.
Commenting on this, Member of the Governing Council Prashantha Lal de Alwis said, “It is through this university that we present to the world the concept of Indigenous medicine. Indigenous medicine continued to be discussed even during the global pandemic COVID-19. As a member of the Tourist Promotion Bureau, I am aware of many foreigners who come to Sri Lanka for Ayurvedic Panchakarma. In fact, the courses we offer at the university are practical courses, so Sri Lanka will undoubtedly become an Ayurvedic hub in the near future.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, Dr.W. M. B. Weerasuriya said the the courses were designed to combine Indigenous Medicine as well as Science and Technology. Anyone who has completed A / L in Science, Technology and Arts can study through this classification.
Responding to a question raised by a journalist regarding the recruitment process, the Chancellor said that only fifty students would be enrolled in one course in accordance with the University Grants Commission guidelines and hoped to introduce certificate and diplomas courses to any individual who is interested in studying Indigenous medicine in the future.
He also said that steps are being taken to attract foreign students for this purpose by next year and that courses are being arranged to introduce traditional healing practices with traditional education. The Vice Chancellor said that arrangements are being made in the future to award recognized certificates to them.
Responding to a question raised by a journalist as to whether there is any difficulty in locating the raw material required for indigenous medicine, the Vice-Chancellor said that it is difficult to find certain drugs in Sri Lanka at present. She said that the university has focused on the cultivation and conservation of local herbs as a long-term program.
She further stated that there were no unemployment rates for the students who had completed the courses at the Wickramarachchi Institute of Education and that the students who had completed the courses at the institutes had already set up their own dispensary or allied manufacturing institutes as well as cultivating and conserving the herbs they wanted.
Author : Accurate
