Sindh govt to hold one test for all medical colleges
Entry tests to all private, public medical institutes to be held simultaneously across the country from next year.
KARACHI:
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has taken away the authority from all medical colleges and universities to conduct entry tests.
According to the 2010 regulations of the Central Admissions Test Council, entry tests to all private and public medical institutes will now be held simultaneously across the country. The rule will be implemented from the next academic year onwards. The decision to centralise the entrance test was made because of countless complaints that the colleges were accepting more students than they could accommodate.
In a letter written by the PMDC to the Sindh health secretary, Hashim Raza Zaidi, and private and public medical and dental institutes on Tuesday, it was stated that instead of individual exams in each university, the provincial health department will conduct a single test. A central admissions authority is being set up to conduct and supervise the tests. The PMDC warns that if any institute refuses to adhere to the new rules, their affiliation with the council will be cancelled.
According to a council member, they have directed all the institutes to complete arrangements to hold the entrance exam on October 31 (for 2011) and to complete the entrance test merit list by November 30. They also said that before publishing the final merit list, the institutes should send them to the PMDC so that the council can register all the prospective medical students in their first year. The council member maintained that with this new rule in effect, institutes will not be able to enroll extra students.
Prior to this, there was no set rule for admissions and enrollments for medical and dentistry students. Colleges prepared, conducted and supervised entrance tests themselves. They also prepared merit lists themselves and were accused at times of making changes in the list after it had been issued. Another problem arose when it came to tuition fees and deposits, application fees and other charges. As private and government colleges held separate tests at different times, students would be forced to pay non-refundable deposits that they would lose.
Government institutes were also allegedly taking on more students than they could accommodate and most of these students fell in the self-financing category. This meant that the students had to pay the full tuition fee as opposed to the subsidised tuition fee for students who were selected on merit or on reserved seats. For instance, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, (LUMHS) Jamshoro has been accused of this and a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry into the issue is under way.
The PMDC has also asked for prospectuses from all affiliated institutes to find out the exact number of seats available in each college and university.
According to PMDC regulations, if extra admissions are given, the registration of all students at that particular institute, is put on hold. In some cases, however, these admissions are allowed to go through because of political influence.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2010.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has taken away the authority from all medical colleges and universities to conduct entry tests.
According to the 2010 regulations of the Central Admissions Test Council, entry tests to all private and public medical institutes will now be held simultaneously across the country. The rule will be implemented from the next academic year onwards. The decision to centralise the entrance test was made because of countless complaints that the colleges were accepting more students than they could accommodate.
In a letter written by the PMDC to the Sindh health secretary, Hashim Raza Zaidi, and private and public medical and dental institutes on Tuesday, it was stated that instead of individual exams in each university, the provincial health department will conduct a single test. A central admissions authority is being set up to conduct and supervise the tests. The PMDC warns that if any institute refuses to adhere to the new rules, their affiliation with the council will be cancelled.
According to a council member, they have directed all the institutes to complete arrangements to hold the entrance exam on October 31 (for 2011) and to complete the entrance test merit list by November 30. They also said that before publishing the final merit list, the institutes should send them to the PMDC so that the council can register all the prospective medical students in their first year. The council member maintained that with this new rule in effect, institutes will not be able to enroll extra students.
Prior to this, there was no set rule for admissions and enrollments for medical and dentistry students. Colleges prepared, conducted and supervised entrance tests themselves. They also prepared merit lists themselves and were accused at times of making changes in the list after it had been issued. Another problem arose when it came to tuition fees and deposits, application fees and other charges. As private and government colleges held separate tests at different times, students would be forced to pay non-refundable deposits that they would lose.
Government institutes were also allegedly taking on more students than they could accommodate and most of these students fell in the self-financing category. This meant that the students had to pay the full tuition fee as opposed to the subsidised tuition fee for students who were selected on merit or on reserved seats. For instance, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, (LUMHS) Jamshoro has been accused of this and a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry into the issue is under way.
The PMDC has also asked for prospectuses from all affiliated institutes to find out the exact number of seats available in each college and university.
According to PMDC regulations, if extra admissions are given, the registration of all students at that particular institute, is put on hold. In some cases, however, these admissions are allowed to go through because of political influence.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2010.