Policy revision: Professional education entry tests to stay

Research by several experts shows that students who excel in entry tests perform better in first 3 years of studies

LAHORE:

The government has no plans in the near future to abolish the entry tests for admission to professional colleges, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The Examination and Admissions Reforms Committee, headed by the education minister, had held several meetings in September over the matter. At that time, some committee members had remarked that the entry tests should be abolished.

“The feedback from the stakeholders and educationists is not in favour of abolishing the entry tests. Therefore, it has been decided that the entry tests will not be abolished,” a spokesman for the education minister told The Express Tribune.

The admission process in medical colleges in the Punjab is near completion. The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has already announced the merit lists for admission to public medical colleges.



“Research by several experts regarding entry tests and published in medical journals had shown that students who excel in entry tests perform better in the first three years of medical studies.

After considering this fact, it was decided that entry tests should not be abolished,” a member of the committee told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity because the decision is yet to be formally announced by the body.

An official of the Health Department, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media, said that private medical colleges already had an option of taking aptitude tests instead of relying on the UHS entry test.

“The weightage formula for calculating merit in public medical colleges is 10:40:50. Merit is calculated by considering 10 per cent marks of the total marks obtained in matriculation, 40 per cent in intermediate and 50 per cent of the marks obtained in the entry test.

However, private medical colleges can take an aptitude test and assign its marks a different weightage,” he said.

“The proposal to abolish entry tests was under consideration for two reasons. Firstly, to give students from urban and rural areas an equal chance to get admission in professional colleges. The second reason was the elimination of cheating at intermediate and secondary level.

However, the arguments were not found strong enough. The entry tests provide a level-playing field to all students. There is also no guarantee that the cheating mafia will not make a comeback if the test is abolished,” the official said.

Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) Registrar Raja Amjad said that they would look into the matter and see whether or not the provincial government had the authority to decide the matter.

A UHS spokesperson said that research had shown that those who scored well in entry tests later performed well at medical colleges. “All stakeholders should be taken into confidence before finalising policy. We will follow the government’s decision about admitting students into medical colleges,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2014.