Around 50% medical and dental colleges in the country are not recognised by the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), even though most of them have been operating for many years.
According to the Health Ministry, the number of government-approved medical and dental colleges currently stands at 124, with only 63 of those public and private colleges having the necessary approval from the BMDC.
The rest, however, continue to carry out their activities ignoring the existing rules.
ABM Abdul Hannan, director (medical education and manpower development) of the health directorate, told the Dhaka Tribune that a medical or dental college must have the approval of three bodies: Health Ministry, the university concerned, and the BMDC.
Running operations without the approval of the BMDC would be illegal, Hannan said, but added that it was the BMDC who were the designated organisation to oversee the issue.
The BMDC Act 2010 dictates that a medical or dental college can admit students after getting primary and administrative approval from the Health Ministry, as well as securing permission from the university concerned. However, in a bid to get the BMDC’s approval, the college must submit a list to the council within the next couple of months, containing details about its admitted students, infrastructure, manpower, laboratory and other facilities.
According to the Private Medical and Dental College Establishment Policy, a 50-seat medical college applying for approval must have a 250-bed hospital that has been operative for at least two years, as well as have 75% patient occupancy at the time of application. The college must also ensure certain facilities in terms of infrastructure, equipment, the number of departments, doctors, nurses, supporting staff and laboratories.
The policy also suggests that a medical or dental college, after getting permission, has to ensure adequate accommodation facilities for students in line with the BMDC act.
Dr Zahedul Hoque Basunia, registrar of the BMDC, told the Dhaka Tribune that the council does not recognise any public or private medical college until a BMDC committee inspects the college and makes sure that it fulfilled all requirements.
However, the process takes a long time to be completed, as most medical or dental colleges delay filing the necessary paperwork, while a detailed scrutiny by the BMDC team usually takes around two years, he added.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official of the Bangladesh Private Medical College Association, however, said it was not the fault of the colleges alone; the BMDC too has to take a share of the blame as it cannot inspect colleges regularly because of manpower shortage.
Documents show that among the country’s 124 medical and dental colleges, 67 were private medical colleges and 19 were private dental colleges. Among the private sector colleges, the approvals of 13 colleges currently remain suspended.
Ministry sources said former health minister AFM Ruhal Hoque gave administrative approval to 14 colleges just before the end of his tenure; but those approvals were suspended by incumbent Health Minister Mohammed Nasim based on corruption allegations. Several probe committees were formed to look into the graft claims, while one of the suspended colleges – Advocate Abdul Hamid Medical College – was later given conditional approval.
On the other hand, senior officials of the Health Ministry said although a total of 29 public medical colleges have so far been approved, six of them – Manikganj, Sirajganj, Patuakhali, Rangamati, Jamalpur and Tangail – would only start admitting students from the upcoming academic session.