HYDERABAD: Sindh Higher Education Commission’s chairman, Prof Dr S.M. Tariq Rafi, has lamented that government spends huge amounts of public money to prepare doctors, who can serve community but if female students, who dominate medical institutions, do not join professional field after graduation they not only waste their talent but also precious public funds.

Mr Rafi said during his speech at the first convocation of Bilawal Medical College for Boys in Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) on Saturday that boys should continue working hard to compete with girls in medical education and should never become complacent at the fact a boys-specific college had not been opened for them.

He said that if admission was opened to girls in the boys’ college too, then 80pc of seats would go to girls on merit. One must remember this ground reality, which showed that over the last 20 years, female students had outnumbered boys in medical colleges because they were more academically sound than boys.

‘They waste their own hard-earned talent and also huge public funds invested in them’

He said that when he left as Jinnah Sindh Medical University’s vice chancellor after nine years the Sindh Medical College had 87.8pc females. Though it was something one should be proud of as it reflected women empowerment at the same time it gave rise to a problem. Most women did not continue their profession as a doctor, he said.

He disclosed that a study of which he was a part showed that 57.8pc of female medical students had completely stopped working [after graduation] and 15pc of them were only working part-time.

“You can only imagine how much talent is lost. It is not only loss of talent but it creates a gap between supply and management after this talent is wasted. Number of doctors available in rural areas has declined to very low levels resultantly,” he said.

Mr Rafi said that a public sector medical college charged less than Rs35,000 annual fee whereas private colleges were charging between Rs2.5m-Rs3m. “The government is using its resources to help you achieve what you want and it is in fact public money that is being spent on you so that you become doctor,” he said.

He said: “If you [girls] don’t continue your journey then it is not only a loss of talent but also loss of resources government has invested [in you]”.

He praised former LUMHS VC Prof Dr Noshad Shaikh for pushing for the idea of a boys-specific college and his dream was translated into reality by Prof Dr Bikha Ram and sitting LUMHS VC Prof Dr Ikram Din Ujjan.

He informed that Sindh HEC had raised grant for LUMHS from Rs24 billion to Rs34bn and another Rs10bn for development as committed by Sindh chief minister.

Prof Ujjan said that 98 graduates of the first batch of the college were being conferred degrees. The college had emerged as a vital institution to improve standard of medical education, he said.

Former LUMHS VC Prof Shaikh said that he laid foundation of this college as VC with a vision to overcome shortage of male human resource in the field of medicine and it was Pakistan’s first medical college for boys.

He said that policies were framed to overcome the male doctors’ need as girls could not perform in hard areas. Parents were often heard admitting that they had got their daughters admitted to medical college only to widen and brighten their marriage options. No doubt, girls performed outstandingly in education [but] boys had other ‘chores’ to do, he said in a lighter vein.

Dr Arbaz Gul received six gold medals and was adjudged the best graduate of the first batch. Dr Mohammad Riyyan, Dr Saad Nazir and Dr Osama were awarded also gold medals.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024