Medical college admissions

Sindh govt maintains that under 18th Amendment, it has powers to decide issues relating admissions to medical colleges

The coronavirus pandemic has forced governments, private organisations and individuals to make hard choices. It’s in keeping with the times that the Sindh government had announced some time ago that students from the province who had obtained 50% marks in the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) would be allowed to get admission into medical and dental colleges of the province. It had stressed that the decision had been taken to save the careers of pupils, as their studies had been affected due to the unusual circumstances caused by the pandemic.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, which conducts the entrance test for medical and colleges all over the country, has set the minimum requirement for these admissions at 65% marks. This has made some private medical colleges reluctant to give admission to students who have secured less than the required marks. The Sindh government maintains that under the 18^th Amendment, it has powers to decide issues relating admissions to medical colleges. This situation had placed pupils in a predicament. Now the Sindh health minister has issued orders that private medical colleges should take in students scoring the minimum 50% marks in the admission test, and has warned that action will be taken against those failing to comply with the orders. In this regard, the health minister recalled that the provincial government had accepted the results of MDCAT with objections and reservations.

The Sindh government had also announced that it would be compelled to conduct medical college admission tests on its own if “the PMDC continued to interfere with matters lying within the jurisdiction of the provincial government”. Last year the minister had also justified the 50% marks for admission to medical colleges to overcome the shortage of doctors in the province — just one doctor for 35,000 hospital beds as against the WHO standard of one doctor for 350 hospital beds. In whatever circumstances pupils receive education, there is no alternative to hard work for being capable doctors.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2022.

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