Students agitate as medical college at Cox's Bazar limps
Students of Cox's Bazar Medical College bring out a procession in the town yesterday demanding setting up of a permanent campus and solution to different problems of the institution.Photo: STAR
The students of Cox's Bazar Medical College continued agitation for the third day yesterday to press home their demands. The demands include a permanent college campus, solution to accommodation problem, appointment of teachers and setting up an examination centre for first professional MBBS examinations. The agitating students took out a procession on the main road of the town and then submitted a memorandum to the education minister through the deputy commissioner. In the memorandum, they threatened to announce tougher agitation programme if their demands were not met immediately. The students said though the college was established two years ago, it has no permanent campus. They alleged that land for the college has not been acquired yet due to non-cooperation of the high-ups. They said as the college has no permanent campus, appointments of department heads in the four departments of the college and assistant professors are not possible. Without departmental heads, there would not be any scope for setting up an examination centre at the college, the students said, adding that 42 students of the second year would not be able to sit for the first professional MBBS exams scheduled for July this year. The academic activities of the college have been carried out in a building of Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital for the last two years. Sources concerned said the district administration has earmarked 24 acres of land for college campus in Jhilongja area of Cox's Bazar town and sent a proposal to the ministry concerned for acquiring the land. Taka 27 crore foreign aid for purchasing land has also been lying idle for long, sources added. A meeting will be held at the office of the land ministry's secretary on April 11 to evaluate the justification of the proposal for acquiring the land. A teacher of the College preferring anonymity said if the land for the College was not acquired by June this year, Tk 27 crore allocated for the purpose would have to be returned. District administration sources said they have been urging the land ministry to acquire the land for last two years. Sources said there are four departments in the College--anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and community medicine. Each department should have six teachers. But there are only 13 teachers instead of 24. At present, the college has 95 students. Of them, 53 are in first year and 42 in second year. College Principal BM Ali Yusuf said except anatomy the three other departments do not have any assistant professor. If assistant professors could not be appointed in the three departments by April 29, no permission for setting up examination centre will be available. Therefore, 42 students will have to go to Chittagong to participate in the exams, the principal said. The students said they will have to sit for three papers of first professional MBBS examinations in Chittagong. The first one of them will be held in July. They said there is no scope to get admitted for appearing in the second examination without participating in the first examination. Deputy commissioner Gias Uddin Ahmed said if land could not be acquired by June, Tk 27 crore would go back to the foreign donors. So the district administration is trying its best to acquire the land as early as possible. He said attempts are on to solve the other problems of the college and the students.
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