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Medical students stuck in India seek help to take exams in Bangladesh
Hundreds of Indian students enrolled in Bangladeshi medical colleges have been unable to return to Bangladesh for their exams as travel remains suspended between the two countries amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in India
Hundreds of Indian students enrolled in Bangladeshi medical colleges have been unable to return to Bangladesh for their exams as travel remains suspended between the two countries amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in India.
“...authorities in Bangladesh suggested we go back to India after Bangladesh imposed a lockdown in March this year. Now as the situation has improved there, they are planning to conduct exams but are not allowing us back,” said Ammar Iqbal, a final year MBBS student at Bangladesh’s Monno Medical College.
Many Indians have been enrolling in Bangladeshi medical colleges because of lower fees.
Bangladesh has cited the new contagious Covid-19 variant as a reason for preventing Indian students from returning.
Ifia Jan, another student, said Bangladesh was allowing back its citizens stuck in India. “Is there no fear of them carrying the new variant to Bangladesh?” Jan questioned. “We have already lost a year due to the previous lockdown. We cannot afford to delay our degree by a year again.”
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Shariar Nabi, the acting dean of Dhaka University, said thousands of students from across the world were enrolled in colleges affiliated to the varsity, and they cannot postpone the exams for just a few hundred Indian students. He added there was no official advisory to these students to leave the country and therefore they were not bound to wait for their return. “We need our thousands of final-year medical students to graduate as early as we can. There is a crisis of doctors here as well,” Nabi said. He added Bangladesh’s health ministry wanted the next batch of doctors as soon as possible.
Muhammad Akhtar-Uz-Zaman, principal of the Monno Medical College, said the students have to appear in person for exams as the college has no provision for online exams. He added neither the Medical Council of Bangladesh nor India permits online medical exams. “Even if there was a provision, the Medical Council of India (MCI) would not entertain the degrees of these students as it does not allow online exams. The colleges here are recognised by MCI since many Indian students study here. We have to abide by MCI’s guidelines.”
He added medical science as a subject demands subject knowledge that cannot be assessed online. “The final year students have to go through behavioural and diagnostic assessment which can only happen in hospitals where they are asked to examine patients. Therefore, online exams for such students are impossible.”
Students said they were trying to reach out to the external affairs ministry. But a spokesperson for the ministry said that they have not received any official written representation.
An official at Dhaka’s Indian High Commission, who did not wish to be named, said they have been in touch with the Bangladeshi authorities but do not have the approval for the return of the students yet. He added Bangladesh had been easing the lockdown and their request to bring back these students might receive a nod in a day or two.
“However, the final say on this lies with the Bangladeshi government. If the external [affairs] ministry of India could directly reach out to Bangladeshi government, maybe they would act faster on it.”
Viqar ul Haq, a third student, said Bangladesh could make a negative RT-PCR test mandatory for all the incoming students. “We are even ready to go for a two-week quarantine upon arrival, but the government should at least allow us in. The insensitivity of both governments will put our future at stake.”
