The private medical colleges in the country are suffering from a financial crunch because of a fall in the number of foreign students.
These colleges finance a major portion of their operational costs from the money they charge the foreign students as tuition fees.
This has prompted the Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA) to organise “Bangladesh Medical Education Fair 2013” simultaneously in six countries – India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Malaysia and Bhutan.
In its first phase, three fairs will be organised in India – on July 6-7 in Srinagar in Kashmir, on July 9-10 in Kolkata of West Bengal and July 12-13 in Guwahati in Assam.
Several advertisements regarding the fairs have already been published in a number of newspapers of India.
The BPMCA has said the fairs will be organised gradually in the other five countries.
BPMCA leaders told the Dhaka Tribune that the fair was being organised as a part of a marketing plan to reach foreign students with information about tuition fees, accommodation costs and the quality of education in the private medical colleges in Bangladesh.
So far eight to ten private medical colleges have enlisted for participating in the fair, sources said.
According to the existing regulations, a private medical college can admit foreign students in up to 25% of its total number of seats.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services, there are a total of 54 private medical and dental colleges in the country that have a combined capacity to accommodate 7,612 students.
On that count, these colleges can admit a maximum of 1,903 foreign students.
According to BPMCA, a little more than 900 foreign students are currently enrolled with the private medical and dental colleges, most of whom are from Nepal.
Dhaka Tribune has learnt that the private medical colleges charges each foreign student around $40,000-$50,000 (Tk3.1m-Tk3.9m) as tuition fees.
The private medical and dental colleges charge the Bangladeshi students initial enrolment fees ranging from Tk1m to Tk2m and a monthly tuition fees of Tk5,000-Tk15,000.
The foreign students pay more than one and a half times the amount of the monthly tuition fees that Bangladeshi students pay for the five year MBBS and BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degrees.
The owners of a several private medical colleges told the Dhaka Tribune that the number of foreign students has been falling due to the lack of coordination among the ministries of health and foreign affairs, and the various Bangladesh missions abroad in publishing admission circulars and organizing other relevant activities.
Sources however said the real reason behind the fall in the number of foreign students was the recent decline in the quality of education.
Foreign students generally get encouraged to come to Bangladesh for medical degrees by seeing others who had gone back home after graduating. That was how these colleges have so far been getting the foreign students, sources said.
However, in recent times, many foreign students with Bangladeshi medical degrees have failed to secure good jobs after going back home. This might have been discouraging their peers from coming to Bangladesh, sources said.
Professor Dr Shah Md Selim, secretary general of BPMCA, told the Dhaka Tribune that the fairs were being organised in collaboration with the ministries of health and foreign affairs and the various foreign missions.
For being able to admit foreign students, a private medical college has to ensure that it graduates at least one batch.
BPMCA, however, has recently eased that stipulation allowing the colleges to admit foreign students after its first batch completes the first professional examination after two years of admission.
BPMCA Secretary General Md Selim informed that a total of 18 colleges have so far agreed to take part in the fair.
They have also agreed on principal to charge foreign student in the range of $30,000-$50,000 and allow 5-10% commission for on spot admission during the fair.