Capping Ceremony’ for First Year Students at Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing

Yunus Centre press Release: 7 February 2024

On 18 January 2024, a Capping Ceremony of Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing was held at its own campus at Diabari, Uttara. Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Nursing College, graced the occasion as the chief guest. The programme was chaired by the principal of the college Ms. Niru Shamsun Nahar. The Chief executives of all Grameen organizations attended the programme. Principals of several nursing colleges attended the ceremony as distinguished guests.

The Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing is a Social Business institution.  It started with 38 students in the year 2010 in the Yunus Centre office. The college now has its own state-of-the-art campus with an initial student of 556 in five different courses. The campus is situated just beside the last station of Metrorail ‘Uttara North’.  The campus has a capacity to accommodate more than 900 students to study. The college is established and run in a joint collaboration between Glasgow Caledonian University, UK and Grameen Health Care Services Ltd., Bangladesh. Grameen Nursing College has constructed a well-furnished dormitory with the capacity of 700 seats to provide with the facilities of residence, food and study for female students in its own campus.

According to international standards, the ratio of doctors and nurses should be 1:3. Interestingly, in Bangladesh the ratio is 2.5:1. The objective of the establishment of Grameen Nursing College was to reduce the shortage of trained nurses. The college produces skilled nurses of international standards. A total of 1 thousand 23 students graduated from this college and working in leading hospitals of the country.

To prepare good quality teachers for this college, some of their meritorious students have been given scholarship and sent to Glasgow Caledonian University for B.Sc., Masters and Ph.D. degrees. Three of the students who returned with degrees are teaching in the college. Three are currently studying for their PhD degrees at Hiroshima University in Japan and one at Glasgow Caledonian University on scholarship.

Last year, a cooperation agreement was signed between Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing and the famous Adelphi University located in the city of New York, USA. Under this agreement, the university will provide opportunities to meritorious students of Grameen Nursing College to study for MSc and Ph.D. degrees. Scholarships will also be offered for this. It also includes faculty exchange programmes between two nursing colleges.

The Dean of Adelphi University Prof. Deborah Hunt and Assistant Prof. Charles Emmanuel Cal are coming to Dhaka this month to review the overall programme of Grameen Nursing College. In June of this year, Professor Mariyama, Dean of Nursing at Hiroshima University, Japan will come to Dhaka to review their programmes with Grameen Nursing College. Also in the last year, she visited the nursing college to discuss about the improvement of the quality of the college. Glasgow Caledonian University through their faculty has been conducting regular seminar programmes in this nursing college since its inception.

At the Traditional Capping Ceremony, the initiating ceremony of 175 first-year students of Grameen Nursing College (2022-2023), each new nursing student formally committed her/himself to the service of humanity. In this ceremony, students took the oath to reflect the core ideals of the nursing profession in her/his life. The first-year students of five different courses had five different colour caps worn on their heads and the boys had been given the shoulder badges.

In his speech as Chief Guest, Professor Yunus said that the nurse is the person who always remains by the side of the patient. A nurse is always ready to take care of the ill, the injured and the aged people. Grameen Nurshing College prepares its students not only as trained nurses but also as a complete human being with all humane qualities. The college has already proved itself as one of the most efficient and renowned nursing colleges in the country. Its students are among the top scorers both under the University of Dhaka and the Nursing College exams and its other courses are also producing efficient graduates. Some of its graduates, having completed higher degrees abroad with scholarship, are now serving at the college as faculty. Professor Yunus informed everyone that because of the success of this college, the wide interest in the nursing profession and the huge demand for suitably trained nurses abroad, it has been decided to establish nursing colleges in various parts of the country.

The Capping Ceremony ended with a magnificent cultural programme offered by students of Grameen Nursing College.

For more information please visit: https://gccn.ac.bd/

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, Niru Shamsunnahar, Principal, Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing, Shamsul Haque Ahmed, Managing Director Grameen Healthcare Services, with a newly capped student nurse.