A rickshaw tries to navigate a flooded street in Peshawar after heavy downpour. PHOTO: PPI
However, the announcement did not come before parents and students had to suffer confusion owing to lack of coordination with the concerned officials.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) had scheduled entrance tests for medical and dental colleges of the province, to be held simultaneously at seven centres across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), for Sunday.
According to an initial report by the entrance test coordination committee, heavy rains in Mardan caused water logging and disrupted the tents set up to conduct the exams. The administration and contractor tried to restore the test venue but due to continuous rain and muddy conditions of varsity grounds, it was nearly impossible to manage the arrangements.
Subsequently, a coordination committee comprising the vice-chancellors of KMCU, University of Engineering Technology (UET) and ETEA executive director and headed by Higher Education Department Special Secretary decided to postpone the test.
In a clarification statement issued by KMCU, it explained that due to the strict rules and for ensuring transparency and maintaining same standards to asses all the applicants on the same yardstick, it was imperative that the test is administered to all the candidates at the same time.
Hence, any interruption, due to any reason at a single centre would result in a postponement of the test at all centres. This, though, caused confusion amongst students and their parents waiting at different centres. They tried to call the organisers to learn about the actual situation but in vain.
Khyber Medical College University (KMCU) media officer confirmed that the tests had been rescheduled and said that new dates would be announced soon.
Abbas Khan, who was visiting the Abdul Wali Khan University with his cousin to appear in the test, told The Express Tribune that students from different areas of the district had travelled to the varsity to appear for the tests.
When they were informed that the test had been cancelled, Abbas said that they were confused.
He said that students and their parents suffered due to lack of coordination with the concerned officials and had to return home disappointed. Hamza Ali, who had travelled to the Islamia Collegiate School for the entrance tests, said that they braved long hours on the roads just to be turned away because the test had been cancelled.
As many as 38,057 candidates, including 23,459 boys and 14,598 girls were supposed to appear in the entrance test.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 16th, 2018.
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