Maldives National University (MNU)’s student union (MNUSU) has raised concerns over the recent decision of the university to change the class venue of its School of Medicine from Dharumavantha Hospital to the university’s main campus.
This comes after MNU’s reassurance that the change in class locations would not negatively impact the student’s lab practice elements.
However MNUSU revealed in a statement that the union has received concerns from over 200 students receiving their medical training from the university and that the temporary measures being arranged by MNU would also impact the study arrangements of foundation student at the central administration as well as other students.
"This change will directly and indirectly impact the studies of more than 1,000 students,” said MNUSU.
The statement also read that the union urges the university to expedite the establishment of a teaching hospital and to bring about a permanent solution instead of a temporary fix.
According to MNUSU, these concerns were also raised to the President’s Office directly via email, and a meeting has been requested to discuss the issue further.
MNU has also released a statement with regards to the matter and said that Dharumavantha Hospital’s use as a teaching venue for the School of Medicine which commenced in 2018 was a temporary measure and that the decision to change the classes to the main campus was to free up space in the hospital to allow for further development of services offered to the public.
According to the university, despite the change in venue, the hospital will still be available for practical experiences and the government is now working on establishing a campus dedicated to the School of Medicine.
However, the main concern of students is reportedly that while the classes are being taught by doctors working at the hospital, a change in venue to the central administration campus would pose additional difficulties in that regard.
Students also raised concerns over waiting area being available for the students who are on call at the hospital on 24 hour shifts.
As of now, the classes of the School of Medicine is divided into two sections; pre-clinicals during the first two years and clinicals during the latter three years. According to students, changing the pre-clinical classes to the central administration would negatively impact the educational experience received by them.
Sign In