Every year, several students try their luck by appearing in the entrance exam of medical institutes. But what if the governing system is unstable?
The medical profession is set on a high pedestal. That is why, every year, many students sit for the entry tests for private and public medical universities and hand their fate to the deciding bodies. But if the system itself is unstable and unable to produce results justly, many bright students ended up with heavy hearts.
MDCAT exam predicament
MDCAT was held last year under the supervision of the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), and many grievances occurred. In addition, the Pakistan Association of Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) raised concerns about a high percentage of vacant seats in Sindh, impractical inspection criteria, and the NLE exam. Moreover, a vast number of BDS seats in Sindh remained unfilled, too. Meanwhile, students also protested against the out-of-course questions in the test.
Violation of admission regulations
The PMC took action against 57 private and medical colleges based on admission discrepancies. According to them, colleges had set their merit criteria, and the admission process was faulty. Consequently, this led to the decision of re-advertisement and readmission.
Power of autonomy to the private medical institutes
According to PMC Ordinance, section 20(7), private colleges have full freedom to decide their fees. Exorbitant fees will greatly impact the students who couldn’t get admissions to public universities. On the other hand, there we saw that some private institutions (AKU, NUMS) exempted themselves from the centralized test. If there is a centralized testing criterion, why are some private colleges conducting entry tests and devising merit criteria?
The ranking scandal involving medical and dental colleges
Recently, a new scandal surfaced regarding PMC, which involved favouritism. The ranking inspection of medical and dental colleges was under hot water. PMC gave an ‘A’ rank to some colleges based on the 2019 mock inspection. According to rumours, the colleges that fell into category ‘C’ were victims of blackmails. Apart from this, concerned authorities allowed 09 medical colleges which are not fulfilling the criteria to operate.
Conclusion
Therefore, keeping a check on the poor quality of education should be the foremost priority. Institutions run for the benefit of society. It should not be vice versa. In addition, the authorities should decide that it is in the best interests of the young generation. Meanwhile, there is a need for a solution that will favour the students and resolve several pending issues and institutional clashes.
