ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of complaints of students about paper leaks, unfair practices in recently conducted exams, the health ministry was planning to adopt new models in collaboration with departments concerned for conductingthe MDCAT exams in future.

This was stated at the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Friday.

The standing committee, which met here at the Parliament House with committee chairman Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani in the chair, discussed the complaints of students regarding recently conducted Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) exams.

The committee was told that a new policy is being planned which included the use of smart gadgets and a unified paper pattern to ensure consistency and fairness across all examination centers. Since Sept 22 when around 170,000 candidates took the test, conducted by six universities across the country and abroad, there have been complaints that the question paper was leaked in Sindh and that over 20 questions were out of the syllabus in the exam conducted by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) in Islamabad.

The committee expressed serious displeasure over the reported paper leaks, unfair practices and the emotional strain placed on students due to the ongoing examination irregularities.

The committee was informed that there was no defined percentage or eligibility criteria required to appear in the MDCAT examination, which contradicts the widespread belief that a 65pc threshold existed.

This revelation alarmed the committee, as the absence of clear eligibility standards undermines the integrity of the test and creates confusion for students and educational institutions. The committee urged that the policy must be revised and taken seriously to ensure transparency and fairness in the admissions process in future.

During the course of meeting, the committee also discussed the growing financial burden imposed by private medical colleges. The committee stressed the need for reviewing the current fee structures of public and private medical colleges to make medical education more accessible, especially to students from middle and low-income backgrounds.

The parliamentary panel also recommended that a timeline should be developed for the MDCAT examination to ensure that students were adequately informed in advance. The chairman of the committee said that continued oversight would be maintained by the committee to ensure the timely implementation of reforms in order to restore public confidence in the MDCAT process through corrective measures.

Meanwhile, the panel also took notice of delays in the process of online registration for doctors. The President, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) explained that the current backlog was due to the need for verifications from multiple sources.

However, he said that a new system had been introduced assigning a focal person for each department to speed up the process and ensure the timely resolution of pending cases. The PMDC assured the committee that despite the current load, the issue would be resolved soon.

Some students also filed a case in Islamabad High Court (IHC), which on Thursday issued notice to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University in response to a petition challenging the MDCAT held last month.

Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir asked the PMDC and the medical university to submit their response by Oct 10, asking if the PMDC had constituted any committee to probe the allegations levelled by students regarding anomalies and errors in the exam.

The students also claimed that there were 30 out of the syllabus questions in the test as well as anomalies in the answer key. The court also asked what was the stance of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU )regarding the allegations and sought a reply by the next date of hearing, which is October 10. As many as 22,000 candidates appeared in MDCAT conducted by SZABMU on September 22 and a number of them afterwards complained that there were issues with the exam, for instance, its difficulty level, errors, and anomalies.

The petitioners, through their instant petitions, requested the court to declare MDCAT illegal, unlawful, and contrary to the PMDC rules. They sought a further direction that respondents be directed to re-take the MDCAT without any additional charges.

A couple of days ago, PMDC also decided to conduct an independent analysis of the test and give the same questions to all candidates from across the country to bring uniformity to the difficulty level next year.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024