Islamabad: Pre-medical students, who have completed their A-levels and Intermediate, protested in Islamabad outside the PMDC's head office recently. The students want the council to postpone the date for its entry test and change the admission criteria.
Around 100 students from different colleges are participating in the protest, including those who are members of the Doctors Wake-Up Movement (DWM-Pakistan), Mustafvi Students Movement (MSM) and other organisations.
"PMDC officials held discussions over the demands of the students. It was decided by the registrar that the council would take members on board to review the admission criteria," said Muazim Wazir the representative of the Doctors Wake-up Movement.
The registrar added that the council would also request a delay in the entry test; however, final decisions will be made on a meeting next week.
"The students are demanding a change in the admission criteria of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) and Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA), explained another member of the DWM. We also want the entry exams to be postponed," he added.
The MDCAT is conducted every year for admission into MBBS and BDS programmes. It is a pre-requisite for admission in all medical and dental colleges both public and private sector in Pakistan. The ETEA, on the other hand, is a body that conducts medical entry tests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The criterion for the admission gives 50% weightage to the results of the final exams and 50% to entry test. The students said that the weightage for the entry test should be increased from 50% to 70% because they were not able to take their final exams this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They want the date of the entry test postponed because they claim they did not get sufficient time to prepare for the exam because of the lockdown.
-DN Report
Dr Muattar Hanif
The author is Editor at Dental News Pakistan and can be reached at newsdesk@medicalnewsgroup.com.pk
