The students who have cleared this year's highly competitive Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) to secure admission in medical and dental colleges of Sindh on Friday strongly protested the Sindh government's decision to reconduct the exam after alleged leak of the paper.
"We urge the authorities not to waste the hard work of thousands of students and instead take action against those responsible for leaking the paper and resorting to unfair means," said one of the disgruntled students during a protest outside the Karachi Press Club where a large number of students and their parents turned up.
The protesters said that they have already secured their seats and do not wish to sit the test again. They added that they had spent countless hours to prepare for MDCAT exam and managed to clear it by sheer dint of their hard work. "However, we were taken by surprise by the caretaker Sindh government's decision to reconduct the MDCAT," another protester said.
The parents of the protesting students expressed their dissatisfaction with the caretaker chief minister for canceling the MDCAT results. They highlighted the tremendous mental stress their children are facing, with many students living in fear of their academic future, leading to emotional distress and intense study sessions.
The parents called for the disqualification of students who had engaged in cheating during the exam. They also questioned that if the exam was reconducted, how could the authorities ensure that paper leaks would not happen again?
Those responsible for leaking the paper or those who benefited from it continue to evade justice, while hard working students are compelled to protest on the streets.
The protesters urged the authorities to take legal action against those involved in the paper leak, as stipulated under the MDCAT Act which envisages up to three years of imprisonment for violators. The protesters warned that if their demands were not addressed, they would stage a protest outside the Chief Minister's House and the Governor's House.
Notification issued
Sindh government has authorised Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Karachi to reconduct the MDCAT-2023-24 in Sindh province in pursuance of the decision of the Sindh cabinet.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2023.
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