Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA), an organization of medical owners, said that the private medical colleges of the country are suffering from severe shortage of students.
They blame the automation policy of the Ministry of Health's for this situation. However, the State Minister of Health Dr. Rokeya Sultana refused to accept only automation as a reason for not getting students and urged the improvement of private medical colleges.
This revelation came from a discussion titled 'Enhancing the quality of private health education and tackling the challenges of the ongoing student crisis in the admission process' organised by the BPMCA at CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital on Saturday.
Private Medical College owners said that there is extreme indiscipline in private medical admissions due to the systematic mistakes of the Ministry of Health. There is a conspiracy to destroy the private medical sector in the name of automation. This year there are 1,200 vacant seats in private medical colleges.
Over 20 percent of medical seats were vacant in the last two years. Students are not available even in the poor and meritorious quota. Because students are not getting the opportunity to get admission in medical as per their choice. The number of foreign students has also decreased due to the same reason.However, without fully agreeing with the owner's demand, the State Minister of Health Dr. Rokeya Sultana said, automation is nothing new. It was there before. I myself could not apply to Dhaka Medical College, because my result was a little low.
She also said, Viva exam used to be held based on our SSC and HSC results. So students are not coming only for automation, it cannot be. It should be investigated whether there is any other reason. Based on my experience I would advise them to work to overcome their shortcomings.
Urging for quality improvement, she said, people think about quality in the private sector. Because they are spending money here. If quality is not maintained then there is no need to work. I want quality in both students and teachers in any sector.
At that time, former Foreign Minister Dr. AKM Abdul Momen, representative of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, principals of various medical colleges, private medical college owners and journalists, also spoke.
