Why the IUBAT MPH is important for nurses

Hasnat Alamgir, Chair of Public Health at IUBAT, wrote in a recent newspaper article that post-graduation education opportunities for Bangladeshi nurses are quite limited. This limits upward career mobility for individuals and potential benefits for population health. One result is a bottle-neck with too few educators to meet the growing demand for basic nursing education. Planning is now underway to accept the first students in IUBAT’s MPH program in January 2023. This will include an emphasis on teaching and management as well as public health science.

Strong interest in Open Education Resources

Alex Berland and colleagues from Nurses International published a paper in International Nursing Review that is among the journal’s top cited papers. Open education resources to support the WHO nurse educator core competencies describes NI’s Open Education Resources. These materials are intended to assist novice nurse educators and have been downloaded in over 100 countries. Some of the source materials were originally prepared for the IUBAT College of Nursing by BHP volunteers. We are recycling that unique effort for one more benefit, now strengthening nursing world-wide.

Increasing impact of Bluebell School

OFP’s Bluebell School offers free primary education to children in Guchchha Gram, which is a “cluster village” or form of social housing for landless families. At present, there are 77 students (43 female) and 6 teachers (3 female). The school has 6 classrooms, a teacher’s lounge and small open space for sports: it is an excellent facility with capacity to create a greater impact. To increase instruction time, we will expand the current class routine and work with teachers to increase the duration of their class hours. One teacher will be assigned as lead to monitor increased teaching time. To increase the school population, the school will invite and allow enrollment of more students, specially in the pre-primary (Kindergarten) section. Initiatives will be undertaken to enroll around 20 students in pre-primary and around 20 additional students in grades 1 to 5. Rabiul Islam will guide Bluebell teachers and OfP staff to work with the villagers in Balagram union to mobilize parents of four to five years’ children to ensure timely enrollment of the children in January 2023.