Govt eyes 1cr jobs with nurses, midwives leading employment push: Ziauddin

The government expects the health sector to generate the bulk of its target of creating nearly 1 crore jobs over the next three to five years, with nurses, midwives and medical technologists expected to account for a significant share of the new employment, Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Health Affairs Dr SM Ziauddin Haider said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Secretariat following his visit to the Philippines, Ziauddin said the government would modernise the country's nursing education curriculum to align it with international standards and improve employment opportunities for Bangladeshi healthcare professionals at home and abroad.

He said the existing three-year Diploma in Nursing Science and Midwifery is not recognised in many countries. To address this, the government plans to introduce a four-year bachelor's degree by upgrading the current diploma programme through a bridging system.

As part of the initiative, the government will establish high-tech skills laboratories, simulation laboratories and modern audio-visual classrooms at 73 government nursing colleges and institutes across the country.

Ziauddin said the government also plans to bring master trainers from the Philippines to train nursing faculty members and teachers.

He said a comprehensive policy would soon be formulated to introduce the four-year bachelor's programme, ensuring the required classrooms, land, infrastructure, skills laboratories and qualified teaching staff.

Private nursing and medical colleges will be given a specified period to improve the quality of their education, he said, warning that institutions failing to meet the required standards within the stipulated timeframe would lose their authority to award degrees and enrol new students.

To strengthen nursing education, Ziauddin said the government has adopted a master plan based on the Philippine model to develop a skilled nursing workforce.

Under the plan, a mega project worth nearly $150 million, with financial and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will be implemented to modernise the quality of education at the country's 73 government nursing colleges and institutes.