MBBS, BDS professional exams to be held on the last week of January
The examinees will stay in hostels one month before the scheduled time of the exams
Medical and dental colleges in the country are set to hold professional examinations for the students of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) courses from the last week of January 2021.
The Department of Health Education, on Monday, issued a press release in this regard amid students' protests against their exams being held amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The medical and dental colleges will hold the professional examinations maintaining health protocols. Other exams will be arranged in phases, the release said.
The examinations were scheduled to be held in May this year but were pushed back due to the pandemic.
However, the final examinations of irregular students who failed in their examinations held in November 2019 is already underway.
The examinees will stay in hostels one month before the scheduled time of the exams. Other students will not be allowed there at this time, the press release added.
After meetings with the vice-chancellors of all the universities, officials of the health education department, deans of medical universities, principals of all medical colleges, and representatives of the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), the health education department decided to arrange the examinations.
As the Covid-19 situation is slightly tolerable, there is no option but to take the exam to keep the medical students free from session jam, it added.
The department also urged the students to participate in the examinations maintaining health rules and refraining from joining protests.
Several hundred students from government and private medical colleges staged demonstrations in the capital over the last few days, demanding that there be no exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"As the medical education system is different, there is no way to allow a student to pass to the next step in any way other than appearing for the examinations," it also said.
Around 30,000 students from 36 government medical colleges and 70 private medical colleges will sit for the professional examinations in January.
MBBS and BDS students have to take professional exams in two terms in May and November /February and August of the year. A student has to pass four professional exams.