Bangladesh’s government medical colleges are facing a long-running shortage of teachers, with nearly 47% of approved posts across five faculty categories vacant at 37 institutions, according to current-month data from the Health Education Directorate. The shortage has raised concerns about the quality of teaching, practical training and academic supervision in medical education.
The directorate reported that 6,555 posts for professors, associate professors, assistant professors, curators and lecturers have been approved, but only 3,503 are filled. A total of 3,052 positions remain vacant.
The situation has worsened compared with July last year, when 2,725 of 6,384 approved posts were vacant.
More than 5,500 students are admitted annually to Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes at government medical colleges. Several older institutions also offer Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Surgery (MS), Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and diploma courses.
People concerned fear that inadequate faculty numbers are disrupting regular classes and hands-on training, potentially affecting the professional competence of future doctors.
Under general medical education guidelines, there should be one teacher for every 10 students and at least one postgraduate degree-holding teacher for every 25 students, according to the Health Education Directorate.
Senior faculty posts have the highest vacancy rates. Of 889 approved professor posts, 585, or 66%, are vacant. Associate professor posts have 928 vacancies out of 1,680 positions, or 55%, while 1,354 of 2,504 assistant professor posts, or 54%, remain unfilled.
Lecturer posts have a comparatively lower vacancy rate, with 179 of 1,420 positions, or 13%, vacant. Six of 62 curator posts, or 10%, are also vacant.
Newer medical colleges face a more severe shortage, according to the Health Education Directorate. Twenty-three colleges established between 2008 and 2020 face various constraints involving teachers, land, permanent campuses and hospitals.
At Magura Medical College, established in 2018, 58 of 88 approved posts are vacant, representing nearly 66% of positions. Seven of 11 professor posts, 18 of 23 associate professor posts and 20 of 26 assistant professor posts are vacant. The government college also has no permanent academic or hospital building.
“Students’ courses cannot be left incomplete. Therefore, we have to do extra work,” Professor Dr Md Kamrul Hasan, principal of Magura Medical College, told Ajker Patrika. “We inform the authorities about the matter every month. They are trying to recruit and deploy teachers.”
At Gopalganj Medical College, established in 2011, only four teachers are working against 18 professor posts. Thirty-three of 46 associate professor posts and 49 of 67 assistant professor posts are vacant, while both curator posts remain unfilled.
At Sunamganj Medical College, established in 2020, 55 of 93 posts are vacant. Sirajganj Medical College, established in 2014, has 68 vacancies among 109 posts, while Habiganj Medical College, established in 2017, has 54 vacant posts out of 87.
Habiganj, Kushtia, Netrokona, Pabna and Sirajganj medical colleges have no serving professors.
“Required numbers of teachers and degree-holders are not available in some subjects for promotion, while the promotion process is slow in other cases,” Professor Dr Mohammad Iqbal Hossain, principal of Chandpur Medical College, told Ajker Patrika. “Educational activities have to be run with limited teachers.”
Older and larger medical colleges have also failed to overcome the shortage. Sher-e-Bangla Medical College in Barishal has 207 vacant posts out of 346 approved positions, including 45 of 54 professor posts and 49 of 82 associate professor posts.
Chattogram Medical College has 166 vacancies among 425 posts. Mymensingh Medical College has 183 vacancies out of 350 posts, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College has 178 vacancies out of 357, Dhaka Medical College has 182 vacancies out of 486, and Rajshahi Medical College has 155 vacancies among 378 posts.
“Basic subjects such as anatomy, physiology and pharmacology have faced teacher shortages for a long time,” Professor Dr Mostafa Toufiq Ahmed, principal of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, told Ajker Patrika.
“Although various initiatives, including non-practising allowances, have been introduced to encourage doctors in these subjects, sufficient postgraduate degree-holders are not available,” Professor Ahmed said. “Doctors trained or educated in other subjects are often brought in on deputation and assigned as lecturers. Academic activities can continue this way, but the crisis is not being resolved. The main problem is the unequal distribution of teachers among colleges.”
Only 1,560 teachers are serving against 2,069 approved posts in eight basic subjects, including anatomy, microbiology, pathology and physiology, according to the Health Education Directorate.
Concerns have also been raised that medical colleges were established during the Awami League’s long period in government for political and other considerations without adequate preparation or capacity, contributing to the teacher shortage.
New government medical colleges continue to be planned despite limited improvement in the situation. Approval was granted to establish Thakurgaon Medical College in May this year and Narsingdi Medical College in June.
Medical education experts have urged authorities to ensure the availability of teachers, hospitals and clinical training before opening new institutions. Experts said these issues had not been given sufficient importance while increasing the number of colleges and student seats, while delays in recruitment and promotion were worsening the crisis.
“The government established medical colleges in different places without assessing requirements,” Professor Dr Mojaherul Haque, former senior consultant to the World Federation for Medical Education, told Ajker Patrika. “No planned initiative to ensure quality has been seen. Quality doctors are not being produced because of teacher shortages and academic deficiencies. New medical colleges must be established on the basis of strategic planning.”
About 7,500 doctors have been promoted at different levels over the past two years. However, a large share of those promotions were granted through the creation of additional, or supernumerary, posts rather than against regular vacant positions, leaving regular vacancies at medical colleges unfilled.
In October last year, for example, 599 doctors in the gynaecology and obstetrics department were promoted to supernumerary assistant professor posts.
On December 24 of the same year, 121 associate professors were promoted to professor. Of them, 110 were promoted to supernumerary posts and four to regular posts.
Health Education Directorate officials said the actual faculty requirement at medical colleges is more than three times the approved number of posts.
Dinajpur Medical College illustrates the gap. The college was approved to admit 50 students in 1992 but now admits 200 students per academic year. Only 83 teachers are working against 188 approved teaching posts.
“The major reason for the teacher shortage is the unequal distribution of teachers,” Professor Dr Nazmul Hossain, director general of the Health Education Directorate, told Ajker Patrika. “Many teachers who have received promotions have not yet taken charge of their new posts. Some remain in their previous posts in situ, some are serving as officers on special duty, and others are working outside medical colleges. The crisis could be reduced significantly if they were deployed at different colleges according to need.”
Professor Hossain said that while medical colleges fall under the Health Education Division, responsibility for teachers’ promotions and initial postings rests with the Health Services Division. The divided responsibility creates complications in deploying teachers according to colleges’ needs.