M M Jasim :
The Health Ministry is considering Tk15 lakh as admission fee ceiling for the MBBS and the BDS courses in all the private Medical and Dental colleges across the country. The monthly tuition fees are likely to be between Tk 8,000 and Tk10,000 respectively.
The Ministry will allow no extra charge of any kind.
Of the total admission fee Tk13,80,000 will be considered as tuition fees and the remainder as intern fees.
The admission fee ceiling was discussed on Sunday in a meeting of the Ministry attended by experts. Ayubur Rahman, Additional Secretary
of Medical Education and Manpower and also the head of the tuition fee regulation committee, presided over the meeting.
A four-member committee formed earlier to fix the admission fee ceiling invited senior medical professionals to attend the Sunday’s meeting so that they could give their views.
Ayubur Rahman yesterday refused to give any details, saying the final decision will be taken shortly.
Professor Dr M Iqbal Arsalan, Secretary General of Bangladesh Medical Association and also a member of the committee, said that the proposed amount was discussed and the ministry would take the final decision.
Professor Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, Director of Medical Education of the Health Directorate, said the final decision would be taken after the health minister’s return from the USA.
The health minister was a member of the prime minister’s entourage to attend the UN General Assembly session.
At present, there are 5,325 seats in the 56 private medical colleges and 1,280 seats in the 23 dental colleges.
Seeking anonymity, an official of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association told The New Nation that the proposed ceiling would not be a suitable figure.
He said: “We heard that Tk 1,20,000 will be counted as intern fee which means it will have to be returned to students during their internship. Besides, if public medical colleges spend Tk22-24 lakh for each student during the entire course period then how the private ones can manage with Tk15 lakh?”
A member of the fee regulation committee said the private institutions charge students with Tk18-30 lakh, the average being Tk21 lakh.
“Many institutions enroll students saying that Tk 9 to 12 lakh will be the total cost but, after admission, they charge a huge sum in the name of development and examination fees and other charges,” he said.
