PESHAWAR: Establishment of new medical colleges without putting in place the desired infrastructure could lead to reduction of seats in the old medical colleges of the province, according to sources.

They said that establishment of new medical colleges in the province led to shrunken faculties at the old medical colleges.

During the past few years, several teachers of the public sector medical colleges have left their jobs either to join private medical colleges or the newly-established colleges where they get higher grades and more facilities.

A few years ago, Khyber Medical College (KMC), the oldest medical institution in the province, planned to increase its seats from 250 to 300 but Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) didn’t allow it owing to reduction in number of teachers.

Since then, the faculties have further shrunken as the teachers have left for other colleges. “If PMDC carries out inspection, the KMC may lose more seats,” said sources.

They said that PMDC was in disarray owing to which it wasn’t in a position to carry out inspection of colleges and check its students, teachers’ ratio on which it permitted the colleges to admit a certain number of students.

The entire dental section of Bacha Khan Medical College (BKMC) is still not recognised by PMDC and the future of 30 students is on stake.

Academic exodus may lead to reduces seats in older institutions

The college established by the previous government of Awami National Party in Mardan didn’t have the desired facilities and teachers owing to which it was unlikely to get recognition anytime soon, sources said.

The establishment of the Nowshera Medical College and Gajjo Khan Medical College Swabi has dealt severe blow to the already established colleges, like KMC, Bannu Medical College and Kohat Medical College because teachers from there have joined these colleges.

“A teacher, working in any of these medical colleges as assistant professor, gets the post of associate or professor in the new colleges,” said sources. They said that at least six medical teachers left KMC during the past few months to get higher posts in the new colleges.

Some teachers at Bannu Medical College or Kohat Medical College, who belong to Peshawar valley, have joined the new medical colleges either in Nowshera or Swabi to get close to their native cities.

Sources said that political pressure in the past forced the medical colleges to admit additional students over and above its quota allotted by the PMDC.

Apart from establishing new medical colleges, the governments have also increased seats in the institutions without putting in place enhanced facilities and getting legal protection.

The province has a total of 636 seats for merit sanctioned by PMDC but the number of students at the public sector college stands at 1,118. It means that 472 students are being admitted on the seats reserved for Fata, backwards areas, Afghan refugees, self-finance scheme, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir every year.

Every year, KMC admits 37 extra students, BKMC 19 extra students, Khyber College of Dentistry 27 students, dental section of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad 26 students and dental section of BKMC Mardan admits 30 extra students.

Those seats were increased by the previous governments without taking into account the ground realities, sources said.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2016