Medical and dental colleges’: Entrance test leaked

Candidate believed to have leaked test through Whatsapp

PESHAWAR: The papers of the entrance test held for admissions to various public and private sector medical and dental colleges of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was leaked from inside the examination hall amid test hours. The papers have also gone viral through Whatsapp and other social media applications.

The entrance test for admissions into the public sector medical colleges of K-P was held on July 24 at five centers. The centres included Islamia Collegiate, the Khyber Medical College ground in Peshawar, Ayub Medical College in  Abbotabad, Grassy Ground in Swat, and University Wensam College DI Khan.

A copy of the leaked test’s paper-C and paper-D is also available with The Express Tribune which also carries the name, signature and reference number of the applicant. The candidate is believed to have leaked the test to a relative through his Whatsapp outside the examination hall. The leaked test has questions of various subjects. Some of the questions in the paper are attempted, while a large portion of the test is left by the candidate.

A copy of the candidate’s result, announced on Monday along with all other candidates’, is also available on the ETEA (Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency)  website. The candidate’s information, such as name, roll number and signature, were also confirmed by The Express Tribune.  The candidate got 45 marks out of 800, with a percentage of 5.25%. A total of 27,573 candidates appeared in the test.



Concerns arise

Parents have expressed severe concerns as one of the candidates’ father, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Express Tribune he heard from other parents the test was leaked at around 11am. The test started at 9am and finished at noon. Parents of the aspirants have demanded that the government and ETEA management declare the test null and void and urged the authorities to take the test again.

According to the instructions, mobile phones or any other electronic devices are not allowed inside the ETEA’s test centres.

However, a candidates told The Express Tribune he saw many candidates solving the exam while using their mobile phones.

While talking to The Express Tribune, ETEA Executive Director Professor Shakil Mufti admitted there was a possibility the paper was leaked during test hours through the use of modern technology and devices. “ETEA will look into the matter and investigate the case [within the department],” he said. When asked about any possibility of cancellation of the test, Shakil said it was not possible since the leaked test was accessible only to a few students. “On that basis, we cannot cancel the test of thousands of other candidates who appeared in the exam.”

Khyber Medical University KMU Peshawar Media Protocol Officer Alamgir Afridi told The Express Tribune the complete responsibility of ensuring all sorts of arrangements for the test falls on the ETEA team and that KMU and has nothing to do with leaking of the paper.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2016.