UHS sets attendance, marks benchmarks

LAHORE:The University of Health Sciences (UHS) Syndicate, in its 85th meeting on Monday, approved new academic regulations for medical and dental students.

The meeting, chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ahsan Waheed Rathore, endorsed the implementation of a minimum 90% attendance requirement and a 70% passing mark criterion, as per the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) notification.

Under the revised policy, students with less than 90% attendance will not be eligible to appear in the annual examinations. Additionally, candidates must secure at least 70% marks to pass the professional examinations.

These regulations will take effect from the academic session 2024-25 and will apply exclusively to newly admitted MBBS and BDS first-year students.

The students already enrolled in ongoing sessions will not be affected. Currently, the minimum attendance requirement in medical and dental colleges stands at 85%, while the passing marks threshold is 50%.

During the meeting, Dr Zahid Pervaiz was nominated as a member of the UHS Finance and Planning Committee. Furthermore, in line with a recent Pakistan Medical and Dental Council notification, the MBBS seat capacity of two private medical colleges - Sahara Medical College, Narowal, and Sharif Medical College, Lahore - has been increased from 100 to 150. The meeting was attended by Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Nadia Naseem, Dr Zahid Pervaiz, and Registrar Kiran Fatima. Prof Arshad Cheema and Prof Maryam Malik, along with representatives from the Punjab specialised healthcare and finance departments participated virtually.

15,460 appear in first UET ECAT

Around 15,460 engineering aspirants appeared in the first UET Entry Test (ECAT) of the year held on Monday.

The entrance test for admission into public and private engineering universities across Punjab, including University of Engineering and Technology and its sub-campuses started from Monday and will continue till Thursday (March 20), at 12 test centres and 100 computer labs in 11 cities across Punjab. The result of the test will be announced on March 28, 2025. However, the registration for the second ECAT will start from April 7 and the second entrance test will be held in the mid of June.