PESHAWAR: Position-holders from the intermediate examination in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have failed to make it to the top 100 in the recent Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test, raising questions about the credibility of the exam conducted by education boards.

Results of the MDCAT, conducted in the province by the Khyber Medical University last Sunday, revealed that the students, who topped the FSc exam held by eight education boards, obtained passing marks for admission to public medical and dental colleges but failed to secure top slots in MDCAT. Some of them even got more than 95 per cent marks in the FSc exam.

Among the top 100 MDCAT scorers, 54pc attended private colleges, 37pc government colleges, 8pc army colleges and 1pc missionary colleges.

Students of government colleges grabbed 10 of the top 20 MDCAT positions, with their marks ranging between 191 and 194.

Majority of top scorers in test belong to private and govt colleges

The KMU records show that 41.16pc of the students obtained below 100 out of the total 200 marks, 16.05pc (100-120 marks), 15.08pc (121-140 marks), 14.28pc (141-160 marks), 11.82pc (161-180) and 1.61pc (181-200 marks).

A total of 41,671 candidates sat the test comprising 200 multiple-choice questions, which required a minimum of 55pc marks for MBBS admissions and 50pc for BDS admissions in accordance with regulations of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.

Officials told Dawn that the medical and dental colleges’ entrance test was introduced in the late 90s on the recommendations of late principal of Khyber Medical College Prof Sirajuddin Ahmad.

They added that in those days, there used to be just one education board in the province i.e. Peshawar BISE that conducted matriculation and intermediate examinations for the entire province, including the then Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The officials said at that time, the province had two medical colleges, one in Peshawar and the other in Abbottabad, with admissions offered to students on the basis of the marks obtained in board exams.

They said since most top scorers in the board exam didn’t perform well in the medical college examination, the entrance test was introduced to select better students for medical and dental colleges.

The officials said the medical college entrance test showed a lack of trust in the board exam by the then KMC principal, who, despite opposition, introduced the test to filter the candidates.

They said the former KMC head’s opinion was confirmed by the recent MDCAT results.

The officials said the entrance test had become controversial with the passage of time and due to the opening of more and more medical and dental colleges.

They said last year, the test was conducted but cancelled after several students moved the Peshawar High Court against its results, prompting the provincial cabinet to order a fresh test by the Khyber Medical University.

Several students were caught cheating with the help of modern gadgets.

The KMU conducted that test in collaboration with the provincial government under the guidance of the PMDC, with no students complaining about its credibility.

This time around, too, no one raised questions about MDCAT.

Additional chief secretary (home) Mohammad Abid Majeed oversaw arrangements for the test for one month, while the test was held with elaborate security arrangements. The MDCAT results were uploaded within 70 hours.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024