The government has taken a project to introduce doctoral-level nursing education in Bangladesh through a major capacity-building project at the National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research (NIANER).
The project, titled “Capacity Enhancement of National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research (NIANER)”, will be implemented at Mugda under Dhaka South City Corporation and is scheduled to run until June 2030.
It aims to strengthen research, teaching quality and professional development in the sector.
The Health Education and Family Welfare Division will sponsor the project, while the Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery will act as the implementing agency.
The total cost of the initiative is estimated at Tk 75.44 crore, of which Tk 4.05 crore will come from government funds and Tk 71.39 crore from foreign sources.
According to project documents, the initiative aims to build a pool of highly qualified nursing faculty by introducing PhD and specialised training programmes in nursing at NIANER in collaboration with South Korea.
Under the project, PhD programmes will be conducted both at NIANER and in South Korea.
The initiative will also support the development of curricula, academic manuals and assessment systems, along with the creation of dedicated spaces for doctoral studies.
Faculty members will receive advanced training at home and abroad to enhance their teaching and research capacity, according to project document.
Besides, the project will strengthen research dissemination by introducing an online submission system for research articles to the Journal of South Asian Nursing (JSAN) and improving overall academic and research quality at the institute.
Major activities under the project include administrative expenditure, domestic and foreign training, consultancy and research, procurement of laboratory and medical equipment, and other academic infrastructure development.
Established in 2016, NIANER is Bangladesh’s first postgraduate nursing education institution and was founded through a joint initiative between Bangladesh and South Korea.
Since its inception, the institute has been offering a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programme and has produced around 410 postgraduate nurses, while 126 students are currently enrolled in the programme.
Despite these achievements, officials say the rapid expansion of postgraduate nursing institutions across both public and private sectors has not been matched by the development of doctoral-level education in the country.
The absence of PhD programmes in nursing, limited opportunities for advanced faculty training, and inadequate research infrastructure have hindered the development of highly qualified nursing educators.
Currently, more than 600 nurses with master’s degrees are reportedly interested in pursuing doctoral studies but lack access to domestic PhD programmes.
Many nursing educators also hold degrees in non-nursing disciplines, which limits their ability to provide academic leadership in specialised nursing education and research.
Officials believe the proposed project will help address these challenges by institutionalising PhD education in nursing at NIANER and creating a stronger academic and research environment.
“Once implemented, the project will help strengthen professionalism, quality teaching and research capacity in the nursing sector,” a senior official of the Planning Commission told UNB. “It will contribute to improving the overall environment of the health sector, particularly nursing.”
Experts say the initiative could play a significant role in promoting research-based nursing practice and producing highly skilled professionals needed to support Bangladesh’s evolving healthcare system.
Bangladesh currently faces a severe shortage of nurses, placing the country near the bottom of global and regional rankings.
The nurse–doctor ratio stands at just 1:0.6, one of the lowest in the world, while nurse density is 0.3 per 1,000 population, the lowest in South-East Asia.
By comparison, Sri Lanka has 2.8 nurses per 1,000 people, suggesting Bangladesh would require roughly 225,000 additional nurses to reach a comparable level, given that the current workforce is about 48,000.
Experts attribute the shortage to structural challenges such as low social recognition of the profession, limited career progression, professional discrimination, and a lack of role models.
Although overseas employment could create opportunities for skilled migration and remittance earnings, professionals make up only 2 percent of Bangladesh’s migrant workforce, and nurse migration has declined since the 1990s, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
Studies indicate that many Bangladeshi nurses struggle to meet global standards due to gaps in advanced qualifications, communication skills, leadership training and cultural preparedness.
This comes at a time when global demand for nurses is rising sharply due to ageing populations, with the OECD projecting a worldwide shortage of 7.6 million nurses by 2030.
Health policy experts say Bangladesh could benefit significantly by expanding and modernising nursing education, improving training quality and creating pathways for international certification and employment.
Strengthening the nursing profession, they say, could simultaneously improve domestic healthcare services and generate high-value remittance income through skilled nurse migration.