The pharmacy teachers in Odisha have expressed concern over the fact that the rapid increase in the number of pharmacy institutions in the state in the last some years has adversely impacted the quality of education the institutions impart to the student community. So the government and the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) should urgently ponder over how to thwart the proliferation. The growth in the number of institutions happened after the Covid pandemic, previous to that there were only 44 colleges, conducting degree and diploma courses. The number has now increased to hundred plus, and every year a minimum of 20 colleges are added to the total number.
Many of these institutions do not have sufficient numbers of students and qualified teachers. Besides, the infrastructure facilities in these institutions are also not adequate as per PCI norms. About 40 percent of the seats in the diploma colleges are lying vacant in all the institutions. If the pharmacy council conducts strict inspections in every college, the mushrooming of pharmacy institutions can be prevented, said a teacher of an institution in anonymity. The institution managements get the NoCs of the government and the examining authority very easily, with them they approach the PCI for its approval. On conducting the inspection at the colleges, the council also sanctions the institutions to run the courses. According to the teaching community, the council has to conduct the inspections very strictly and without any malpractice. But all the institutions pass the tests easily and win the approval of the regulator. Sources said this year 20 institutions are waiting for government NoCs and PCI approval. In Odisha, the examining authority for the diploma course, D Pharm, is the Odisha State Board of Pharmacy (OSBP), and for the degree course (B Pharm), it is the concerned university. About 60 colleges are conducting both diploma and degree courses, and about 40 colleges run only diploma courses. The admission for the degree course is now over, and classes have started. But for the diploma course, the classes are yet to start. Both the degree and diploma colleges are facing shortage of students. Dr SK Panda, principal of a pharmacy college in Odisha said there is laxity on the side of the PCI in conducting thorough inspections in the new institutions, and if they fully comply with the norms, no new college will come up further in Odisha. He said this mushrooming of pharmacy institutions will create an unfortunate situation in the future as the number of unemployed pharmacists will increase in the state. The situation will become very terrific compared to other states as there is not much of a pharma industry in Odisha to provide job opportunities to the graduate pharmacists. In other words, this lack of industry also affects the quality of the education. That means the education of a pharmacy graduate in Odisha lacks quality and standard compared to the education received by students in other states which impart high standard education, and he has no opportunity for a job in his state. The teachers are now planning to approach the government to pressurize them for setting up a pharma industry zone in the state and invite industries from other states to Odisha to establish an exclusive pharma sector with the support of institutions, a teacher told Pharmabiz.
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