The government has requested the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) to temporarily halt admission to the school until the solution formulated by the government is implemented, Highways and Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella said. 

The request was made through the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Higher Education Ministry, the Higher Education Minister said.

“We are expecting a favourable response from SAITM in this regard in the coming week,” Minister Lakshman Kiriella said furthermore.

The Minister said the government would need time to implement the various decisions it came to in formulating a solution to the SAITM issue.

These include listing SAITM in the stock market; setting up a Board of Governors to raise the standard of the institute; taking over the Neville Fernando Hospital and turning it into a Teaching Hospital among others.

The Minister said further steps would be taken to initialize these processes over the next two months.