March 7, 2025
DHAKA – Medical students’ education is in a crisis as 43 percent posts for teachers in the government medical colleges are vacant.
Experts say this is a serious cause for concern and it puts the nation’s healthcare system at stake.
The most critical gap is at the top level, where a staggering 65 percent of professor positions have not been filled. At mid-level, 45 percent posts for associate professor and 51 percent positions for assistant professor are lying vacant.
The government medical colleges can accommodate 5,380 students, according to the 2023-24 annual report of the Health Education Division.
At least four of the 37 government medical colleges have no professors at all while 18 others are limping along with only one to five professors at their disposal, according to data provided by the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME) last month.
Medical education sector insiders have identified delays in promotions, a lack of faculty for eight basic subjects, complexity in determining seniority between cadre and non-cadre doctors, and the removal of many senior educators by making them Officers on Special Duty (OSD) after August 5.
Apart from compromising the education of future doctors, the crisis will further harm the country’s already struggling healthcare system in the years to come, experts warn.
“The teacher shortage is hampering the quality of medical education, which will eventually have an adverse impact on the health sector,” said Prof Rashid E Mahbub, a medical expert and former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA).
Medical students are being deprived of necessary guidance from teachers, he told The Daily Star.
The shortage of teachers has been there for a long time.
Students at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College in Barishal on February 17 went on strike for over a week demanding a solution to the shortage of teachers
“We’re not getting quality education since there are only six professors against 50 posts while 250 students are admitted in each batch,” Arafat Rahman, a final-year MBBS student of the college, told our Barishal correspondent at that time.
According to the DGME, the college has 343 teacher posts, of which 206 posts or 60 percent are now vacant.
NEW INSTITUTIONS
The Awami League government had focused on establishing new medical colleges in various districts, but largely overlooked manpower issues, deepening the crisis, according to the sector insiders.
At least 23 medical colleges were established between 2008 and 2021, and the manpower crisis is particularly acute in the new institutions, DGME data shows.
These colleges have 252 professor posts, out of which 189 or 75 percent are vacant.
Among them, the Netrakona Medical College, Noakhali Medical College, Pabna Medical College, and Shaheed M Monsur Ali Medical College currently have no professors.
Eighteen other medical colleges only have one to five professors.
They are Cox’s Bazar Medical College, Jashore Medical College, Satkhira Medical College, Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College in Kishoreganj, Kushtia Medical College, Gopalganj Medical College, Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College in Gazipur, Tangail Medical College, Jamalpur Medical College, Manikganj Medical College, Patuakhali Medical College, Rangamati Medical College, Habiganj Medical College, Nilphamari Medical College, Naogaon Medical College, Magura Medical College, Chandpur Medical College, and Sunamganj Medical College.
Only Mugda Medical College in Dhaka has 13 professors against 15 posts.
All these medical colleges, except Noakhali, Cox’s Bazar and Pabna medical college, were established during the Awami League’s rule. Three medical colleges were established in 2008 during the then caretaker government.
PROMOTIONS ‘OVERDUE’
Ex-BMA president Prof Rashid said the government does not regularly promote teachers, which led to a massive backlog.
“They [authorities] don’t hold meetings [for promotions] unless they are under pressure. As a result, teachers lose interest, and new doctors do not feel encouraged to take up teaching jobs,” he said.
He recommended establishing a separate system to handle the recruitment and promotion of medical teachers.
The BCS Health Cadre Specialists Doctors Forum, a platform representing government doctors, including teachers at government medical colleges, has been protesting the delays in promotions.
On February 25, they announced a two-hour work abstention every day from March 8 if the government did not promote them. They threatened to go for an indefinite work abstention if their demands are not met by March 11.
Mirza Md Asaduzzaman, convener of the platform, said around 7,500 doctors across different grades, including medical college teachers, are awaiting promotions. There have been no promotions in some departments since 2017, according to him.
He pointed out that the number of seats for students at government medical colleges increased over the years, but not the number of teachers.
According to insiders, the teacher shortage is particularly severe on some basic subjects. In many cases, teachers from other departments or non-teacher doctors are called in to teach these.
Anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, forensic medicine and community medicine are considered less attractive due to limited financial prospects and fewer job opportunities, they said.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS ‘SOON’
Prof Nazmul Hosain, director general of the DGME, said the process of promotion was already slow before the uprising, but it came to a complete halt for some time.
The main reason behind the problem in promotions, he explained, is the complexity in determining seniority between cadre and non-cadre doctors.
Doctors are recruited under the cadre service and also under various projects and on an ad hoc basis, he noted.
“As this issue remains unresolved, meetings of the two committees responsible for promotions cannot be held,” Prof Nazmul said.
However, a committee, led by the secretary of Health Education Division, is working to address the issue, said Prof Nazmul.
He said the process for promotion of teachers of around 20 subjects, which do not involve such complexities, has resumed. Efforts are being made to mitigate the teacher shortage by appointing teachers under “current charges”.
Prof Nazmul said the authorities were identifying doctors with postgraduate degrees and are currently posted at upazila-level hospitals so that they can be reassigned to medical colleges to help address the teacher shortage.
“We look forward to some positive developments within a month or two,” he told The Daily Star.