Staff Reporter : The introduction of automation or automated admission process in private medical colleges of the country has created chaos. Students seeking admission are being deprived of the opportunity to get admission in the medical college of their choice. As a result, students are being discouraged from entering this profession. Students and guardians seeking admission are disappointed and aggrieved by this. Many seats in private medical colleges are remaining vacant due to the automation admission process. Conscious guardians and Bangladesh Private Medical College Association have claimed that there is a conspiracy to destroy the private medical sector in the name of automation. As a result, they have demanded the cancellation of the admission process through the automation method.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, automation or automated system has been introduced in MBBS admission in medical colleges from the academic year 2022-2023. In this system, students are admitted to government and private medical colleges on the basis of merit list. Students cannot choose the colleges of their choice. Initially, students were given the choice of admission in 5 medical colleges. Later, this policy was changed and 60 medical colleges have been kept for boys and 66 choices for girls.
According to the latest information from the Directorate General of Health Services, about 1,200 seats are still vacant in private medical colleges in the 2024-25 academic year. However, before the introduction of automation, not a single seat was vacant in private medical colleges. At that time, even though an average of 57,000 students passed every year, all the seats would be filled. Currently, although about 55 percent of students pass every year, a significant number of seats remain vacant. According to analysts, the automation system has limited the opportunity for students to choose a college. Allocation is being made based on a specific algorithm and serial. In this, students living in the capital are being sent to colleges in rural areas, and many students from rural areas are being given admission to elite medical colleges in Dhaka – which is not in line with reality and capacity. As a result, many are waiting or withdrawing from higher education instead of getting admission in the colleges they have been allocated. This is putting the institutions in crisis and affecting the medical education program.
The admission-desirable list prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services shows that students who grew up in the capital Dhaka have got the opportunity to get admitted to a medical college in a village or town outside Dhaka. In this case, the families of many students do not want to get admitted there, where it is difficult for their children to adapt. Again, many people from the villages have got the opportunity to study in the capital. But it is difficult for them to bear the expenses here. In this way, the automation system is killing the desire of several students to become doctors in an instant.
While filling the form for online private medical admission through automation, the list of colleges has to be added. In this process, after the student applies, he is informed about the opportunity to get admission in a particular medical college through short message (SMS). As a result, his choice is not there. Students who do not get admission in their preferred medical college are turning away from medical studies.
It has been found that out of 1,31,729 candidates who took part in the medical admission test in the 2024-25 academic year, 60,095 passed the admission test. The pass rate in the test is 45.62 percent. Of these, 5,380 seats were filled in 37 government medical colleges, but 6,295 seats in 67 approved private medical colleges were not filled. This year, 1,200 seats are vacant in private medical colleges. In addition, the admission process is still ongoing, which is pushing the lives of students towards uncertainty. Due to the vacant seats, merit lists were sent three times in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, but many did not get admission because they did not get the college of their choice. Moreover, even in the free poor and meritorious quota, seats are not being filled in some places because they do not get the college of their choice.
Due to the automation system, foreign students have also lost interest in pursuing medical education in Bangladesh. Before the introduction of automation, sufficient students from various countries including India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka used to come to study medicine. Automation cannot please anyone as it wishes. As a result, foreign students are also turning away from medical admissions in Bangladesh. According to government policies, 45 percent of foreign students have been completed in the past 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years. But the desired students are not being available from the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years. As a result, the state is not being deprived of the desired foreign exchange from the medical education sector.
A parent angrily said that the Ministry of Health can introduce automation in admissions to government medical colleges, but automation in private colleges means taking away people’s rights. Those who study in private colleges will pay for it, and they can study in any field they want. The government should not interfere in this.
In this regard, public health expert Professor Dr. Muhammad Abdus Sabur said, “In the name of automation, a huge burden is being imposed on student admissions in private medical colleges. There has been dissatisfaction among students, guardians, owners and even doctors about this. It must be ensured that this system does not become a tool to destroy the private medical sector.”
He also said, “Medical admissions through automation are a long process. Many talented people are leaving the country without getting the college of their choice. So, I think it is possible to go back to the old system for the benefit of all parties.”