The USTC, a private institution, admitted around 400 students each in the 25th, 26th and 27th batches whereas the rules permit it to admit around 100 in each batch, said sources at the USTC and the BMDC. Without registration with the BMDC, the 1,200 students, including around 600 from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives, cannot do internship or become medical practitioner.
The students have been demonstrating in the Port city over the last four days, demanding the authorities take steps to resolve the matter. Many of the foreign students have already contacted their Embassies concerned in Bangladesh. Health and Family Welfare Minister said the USTC did not follow the rules and that it was running at its own will.
USTC Registrar said they got a letter from the government in 2015, which asked them to admit 75 students every year. But before that, there was no restriction on admission of students. Contacted Registrar of the BMDC, said they refused to register the students because the USTC violated the rules by admitting more students than permissible.
Asked how 387 USTC students of the 24th batch got registered with the BMDC in 2012, he said it was done following intervention of the higher authorities. About this, the Health Minister said they did it on compassionate grounds.
Of the 600 foreign students at the USTC medical faculty, around 300 are from India, about 250 from Sri Lanka, 30 from the Maldives and 10 from Bhutan. Many of the students from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives told the media that they already contacted their Embassies in Bangladesh through emails, and the officials concerned told them that they were keeping a close watch on the matter.
There is no hard and fast reason for BMDC to stick to its rule of 100 student admissions per medical college. It should immediately become apparent that the medical colleges can make more profits from foreign students than local ones so realistically there should not be a limit on the number of foreign students which it should be allowed to admit. The extra funds so acquired could be used to improve their infrastructure and provide more seats and financial aid for local students — this is an area which would need proper supervision from the government, to ensure that the extra profits are not simply gobbled up by the owners.
We dont have a very positive image in the international arena — there is no reason why we should irk our neighbouring countries to ensure further negativity. A practical solution would be to scrap the rules regarding international student admission to ensure that such colleges have more funds to channel into infrastructure and funding for our local students. This makes more sense — as the government should not be expected to cough up billions of takas to subsidise private medical colleges. This way we can help both ourselves and keep relations smooth with our neighbours — surely a middle ground can be found somewhere.
