Since the current government came into power in January, “political considerations” have allegedly played a key role in granting administrative approval for six new public medical colleges in the country, including one each in the home districts of the minister and state minister for health.
In February, the ministry gave approvals for five medical colleges in Tangail, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Patuakhali and Sirajganj; while administrative approval was also given to Rangamati Medical College on April 10. Sirajganj and Manikganj are the constituencies of Health minister Mohammed Nasim and state minister for Health Zahid Maleque, respectively.
The ministry also approved the admission of 50 students for MBBS courses at all the new colleges from the upcoming 2014-15 academic session.
The latest move reportedly came without proper planning by the ministry, while there are allegations that most of the new public medical colleges did not have the proper infrastructure, manpower or clinical facilities.
According to the existing medical and dental council act, both public and private medical colleges have to meet similar requirements in order to get approval from the ministry and conduct their operations.
However, the health ministry has recently been criticising public medical colleges for ignoring the existing requirements, said several medical education specialists, seeking anonymity.
The country had eight public medical colleges at the time of its independence in 1971, while a total of only six more colleges were set up over the next 34 years; among them were five colleges in Comilla, Khulna, Bogra, Faridpur and Dinajpur in 1992, and the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College in 2005.
However, since 2005, the health ministry has approved 15 more public medical colleges in the country.
When asked about the reason behind the sudden increase in approving new public medical colleges, Motiur Rahman, joint secretary (medical education and manpower development) of the Health Ministry, refused to comment on the issue.
Preferring to stay unnamed, a medical education specialist who is also a senior figure in the health sector, told the Dhaka Tribune that the approvals were given based on “political consideration.”
Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub, president of Health Rights Movement of Bangladesh and also former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that the government’s practice of “giving approval before proper planning” was detrimental to the country’s medical education.
Acknowledging that opening new public medical colleges meant better opportunities for students to study at lower costs, Dr Mahbub said it was essential that the government planned before opening new colleges in order to ensure quality medical education.
Dr Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin, president of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, echoed Rashid and said the rampant increase of public medical colleges was not good, but added that the newly approved colleges were comparatively better than private medical colleges.
Admitting that the public medical colleges had their own limitations, Amin said it was possible to overcome the problems if the government addressed the issue seriously.
Moazzem Hossain, president of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA), told the Dhaka Tribune that the government should publish details on the lapse and gaps of the medical colleges. It is not correct to blame only the public sector, as there are lots of good medical colleges both in public and private sectors, he added.
