MDCAT: SHC issues notices to PMC, others over new medical colleges admission test criteria
The PMC has announced to hold MDCAT in second week of November
October 15, 2020
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the federal and provincial governments, Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), provincial admission committee, and others on a petition challenging the medical and dental colleges and universities admission testing system, The News reported on Thursday.
The pre-medical students submitted in the petition that the on-going tussle between the federal and provincial governments over the admission policy criteria for medical and dental colleges and universities has led to confusion amongst the aspiring students who wanted to secure admissions to medical colleges and universities across the country.
The federal and Sindh governments had announced separate medical college and university admission policies which has left the fate of medical students hanging in the air, the petitioners complained.
Read more: MDCAT policy explained: What is the new criteria for admission in medical colleges?
They submitted that the federal and provincial governments’ committees for medical admissions had failed to provide information regarding the syllabi, criteria, and weightage of the national medical and dental colleges’ admissions test and the provincial test with absolute certainty and uniformity.
This uncertainty has not only caused them colossal losses in terms of time and money but also extreme mental and emotional distress about the start of their professional career.
They submitted that the federal and provincial governments were more interested in fighting for their respective political and executive powers as opposed to keeping the welfare of the petitioners and other students on priority.
They submitted that the federal and provincial governments had announced admission tests for medical colleges on October 18 and the second week of November under the newly introduced Pakistan Medical Commission Act and abolished the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
As per the decision of the provincial admission committee, the medical colleges and universities of Sindh had announced admission tests on October 18. However, after the abolition of the PMDC ordinance, the federal government announced holding medical admission tests all over the country by creating the PMC through an act of Parliament – which led to confusion amongst the pre-medical students in Sindh.
The petitioners requested the SHC to declare the medical colleges admission test on October 18 – as announced by the provincial admission committee – as per the PMDC Admissions Regulations 2020 without legal effect as the PMDC Ordinance 1962 had been repealed and the council was dissolved in virtue of the PMC Act.
The court was also requested to declare that the Sindh admissions committee in pursuance of the PMC Act had no lawful authority to determine the admissions criteria for private medical and dental universities and colleges in Sindh.
The petitioners appealed the court to direct the admissions committee to furnish the applicable syllabus and explain with clarity the admission criteria, the distribution or the balance weightage between any provincial test and FSC or High School equivalent results after the mandatory 50% weightage of the National MDCAT for admissions to the public medical and dental universities and colleges in Sindh.
A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar after preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the PMC, provincial admission committee, and others, and called their comments on October 16.
