PHC directs KMU to prefer local students in admissions

All medical colleges in K-P directed to give preference to students from the province when granting admissions

PESHAWAR: All medical colleges in the province were on Thursday directed to give preference to students from the province when granting admissions.

This was directed by a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Abdul Shakoor, as it resumed hearing a writ petition challenging a decision of the Khyber Medical University (KMU) to provide admissions to 74 students from other provinces.

During Thursday’s hearing, the counsel for the petitioner, Waseemuddin Khattak, told the court that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has set a certain standard according to which entry tests for admissions to medical colleges are conducted while other provinces follow their standards.

Moreover, the petitioner, Humail Waseem, argued that the courses taught to pre-medical students in K-P are different from those taught to students from other provinces. As a result, the merit in K-P for medical colleges — as compared to other provinces — is also low.

But students from other provinces secure high marks due to different checking systems which make them potential candidates for admissions in K-P medical colleges, the court was informed.

Khattak argued that the approach to education and the approach to studies in medical colleges across the province is different from the rest of the country. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2020.