The Cabinet approved Monday draft laws for establishing two more medical universities in the country for creating more specialists in medical science to upgrade healthcare services.
A regular weekly meeting of the cabinet endorsed the draft Chittagong Medical University Act 2015 and Rajshahi Medical University Act 2015.
"The universities will be established as per decision of the National Health Council meeting last year," cabinet secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told journalists after the cabinet meeting.
He said the universities will provide postgraduate medical studies and bachelor degrees in nursing, besides research in higher medicines of modern times. With these two, the number of medical universities in the country stands at three. The first one is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting at the cabinet division of Bangladesh Secretariat.
The cabinet secretary said the council in March last year had decided for the establishment of the universities for raising more specialists in medical science in the country to improve healthcare services for the people.
He said the public universities will be autonomous in terms of administrative and financial management.
"The universities will have syndicate, academic council, faculty, deans' committee, curriculum committee, board of advanced studies, finance committee, planning and development committee, and discipline committee and so," Mr Bhuiyan said.
He said that the President of the country will be Chancellor of the universities and will appoint Vice-Chancellor (VC) from among the university teachers or any experienced academic person of medical education under some conditions through gazette notification. "The universities will have two pro vice-chancellors.
The tenure of the vice-chancellor and pro vice-chancellors will be four years which is extendable for a second term," he said.
The VC will be head of the syndicate which comprises representatives of different professions, including two parliament members, pro-VCs, deans and government representatives.
All medical colleges in Chittagong and Rajshahi regions, including the existing Chittagong Medical College (CMC) and Rajshahi Medical College (RMC), will be affiliated with the universities, he added.
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