Mismanagement: PMDC suspends registration of Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana

Lack of facilities and faculty resulted in the suspension


Our Correspondent November 24, 2015
PMDC gave these orders due to shortage of professors, lack of facilities. PHOTO: FILE

SUKKUR: After granting registration to Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana, just one and a half months ago, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has suspended it once again, putting the future of 200 students at stake.

Lack of facilities and faculty members resulted in the suspension of this public college's registration. According to sources, when a team of PMDC visited the college earlier this year, the faculty was almost complete but some facilities were missing. The government college was given the registration when the authorities promised to fulfill requirements of the PMDC.

However, the new body which has taken over the reins of the PMDC suspended the registration of the college keeping in view the shortage of faculty and facilities at the university. According to sources, there are around 22 lecturers at the college, out of which eight are working on deputation in other colleges, while three to four are living abroad. This has led to the shortage of faculty at the college.

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Recently, prothodontolgy assistant professor Imran Samejo has resigned, which is a setback for the faculty, sources claimed. When contacted, Samejo said that he had resigned due to personal reasons.

Despite the protest of the students and faculty, there are still no facilities available for the students to do practical work, sources said. Subjects such as dentistry, community dentistry, oral biology, oral medicine, periodontology, oral pathology, clinical dentistry, prosthodontics, operative dentistry, orthodontics and oral surgery were offered at the college. However, orthodontics, prosthodontics, periodontology and others are now not available, adding to the list of problems that the students are facing.

Confirming the suspension of the college's registration, the principal Professor Noor Ahmed Khoso said he was not sure why PMDC suspended the registration. Khoso claimed that there is no lack of facilities or the faculty. He added that the contracts of some lecturers and assistant professors have expired, due to which the college is facing some issues.

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Khoso expressed his concern that the government hires lecturers and assistant professors on a six-month contract, which he believes is a short period. "I have requested the Sindh governor to hire lecturers and assistant professors with a contract of at least three years," he said, admitting that some of the lecturers are working in other colleges on deputation. The principal further claimed that there is a shortage of faculty and facilities in almost all the medical and dental colleges and he hoped that the new body of PMDC will again grant registration to the college.

Speaking about the reason behind the cancellation of the registration, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana, vice-chancellor Professor Ghulam Asghar Channa said that as the new body has taken over PMDC, they want to revisit various medical and dental colleges and therefore have suspended the registration of Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th,  2015.

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