MDCAT 2021: PMC may address student's grievances, says Faisal Sultan
SAPM Dr Faisal Sultan meets delegation of students, listens to problems faced during MDCAT this year
October 01, 2021
- PMC may resolve grievances, says SAPM Dr Faisal Sultan
- Mechanism to resolve complaints may be made after consultation with PMC, Dr Sultan tells delegation of students.
- Students have been protesting outside PMC, seeking a retest.
ISLAMABAD: A possibility to develop a systematic grievance resolution mechanism for students to register their complaints will be discussed by Faisal Sultan, the prime minister's special assistant on health, with the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), The News reported Friday.
The SAPM gave this assurance to a group of students who met him and shared the concerns and grievances of students who had attempted the MDCAT this year.
Dr Faisal heard their concerns at length and responded to the issues tabled, highlighting that the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test's (MDCAT) is to ensure that students entering the competitive field of rigorous and lifelong learning have the necessary potential in terms of academic achievement, knowledge, and analytic thinking, the publication reported.
All this will ultimately enable the public to have safe and competent professionals serving them in the future and reinforce public trust in the medical education system and medical professionals, the publication quoted Dr Sultan as saying.
The MDCAT candidates have been protesting outside the PMC building, seeking a retest.
Sources privy to the matter said that the sit-in by the students and their parents was staged after negotiations between students and PMC officials over the matter of retest turned out to be fruitless.
The protesting students said that the data of thousands of students was leaked after a hack of PMC’s website. “The PMC has put the future of hundreds of students at stake,” said the students.
Meanwhile, the PMC administration has maintained that it is aware of the stance of the protesting students.
“Every effort is being made to ensure merit in MDCAT,” the PMC officials had said, adding that the commission's stance is to bring the medical sector in line with the international standards.
