ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has decided to impose a ban on the registration of new medical and dental colleges, according to reports from ARY News on Monday.
Sources informed ARY News that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has agreed to halt the registration of new institutions following the government’s directive. The decision was officially approved by the PMDC, and no new applications for registration submitted after January 5 will be processed. However, 13 applications submitted before this date are still under review, the sources added.
The move to implement the ban comes in response to a growing shortage of faculty in medical colleges. At present, the country is home to 121 private and 66 public medical and dental colleges.
This decision follows another recent action by the PMDC, which prohibited private medical and dental colleges from collecting fees. The PMDC issued a notice to these institutions instructing them to stop fee collection, following recommendations from the Senate Committee on Health. The Senate’s Health Sub-Committee had advised that fee collection be suspended until further notice.
The fee collection ban will remain in place until the Medical Education Committee, led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, submits its recommendations. The committee, established by the Prime Minister, is tasked with reviewing the current situation and evaluating the standards and challenges faced by private medical universities and colleges. In recent years, private medical colleges have collected more than Rs15 million in fees, according to sources.
