27,573 appear in entry test for KP medical colleges

Rush on Jamrud Road mars traffic;
parents complain of poor arrangements

PESHAWAR: A total of 27,573 candidates appeared in the entrance test for the public and private sector medical and dental colleges in the province held here on Sunday amid serious reservations expressed by the parents over the arrangements.

The test was arranged by the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) simultaneously at five centres including two in the provincial capital, and one each in Mingora, Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan.

An overall of 16,791 male and 10,782 female candidates attempted the examination. The result would be announced today (Monday) and it would be displayed on the Khyber Medical University’s (KMU) website www.kmu.edu.pk and ETEA website www.etea.edu.pk.

In Peshawar, makeshift halls had been arranged at the ground of Islamia Collegiate School and Khyber Medical College (KMC) ground where more 15,000 candidates appeared in the test. Some 9,100 students took the test at the Islamia Collegiate School 6,624 at the nearby KMC ground.

KMU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hafizullah, who visited both the centres in Peshawar, was quite satisfied with the arrangements made for the test. He said 4,652 more candidates who appeared this year in the ETEA test signified the trust in the arrangements and transparency of the test conducted jointly by KMU and ETEA.

The students appearing in the test and their parents outside were, however, not satisfied with the arrangements. According to the students, the test started half hour behind the scheduled time.

“They had strictly advised us to reach the venue by 8 am as the test would commence sharply at 9 am. We reached the venue at 7am for the fear of rush and getting late. But it took the organisers another nearly an hour to start the test,” said a female student.

Some students even complained that the water they were given at the exam centre didn’t taste well. “The taste of the water was not good. I couldn’t drink it despite being very thirsty,” said another student.

Her father, who had already been exhausted due to the huge rush on all the roads around the University Campus Peshawar, said that the test was over at 12 o’clock but he could find her at 2 pm. He said parents and children had to wait for each other for three long hours on the road due to the huge rush.

Almost all the parents suffered great difficulty to find children as the students had not been allowed to take their mobile phone with them, which could be the lone mean to locate each other.

Owing to the huge number of students appearing in the test, there was great rush on the main Jamrud Road and other link roads and parking car was the most difficult things to do. Many parents had to park their cars several miles away from the venue of the test and the students had to walk all the way to reach the examination centre.

The parents were of the opinion that the entry tests had become a regular phenomenon and the ETEA, KMU and even the provincial government should make arrangements for it on permanent basis. They said that the students were charged heavily for the tests and in return they were given only makeshift halls, a pencil and a small bottle of water.

It merits a mention here that each student is charged Rs 1600 for the test and the total number of students who applied for the test was nearly 28,000. The amount if counted comes out to be Rs 48 million, which is a huge sum.

The government should look seriously into the matter and make permanent arrangements for the students appearing in the test as well as their parents, who wait for them outside.

Meanwhile, strict security arrangements had been made for the test. All the gates of the university had been closed for common visitors and only the students appearing in the tests were allowed to make entry into the university.

On the main road a scores of representatives of different private medical institutions were seen distributing leaflets among the students and their parents and most of them would through away the leaflets on the road. The road right from Abdara Chowk until Board was seen covered by the papers. It gave a completely white look. It may take a day or so to clean the road and the green belts on its sides.

According to a press release issued by the KMU, some 3,961 students appeared in the test held in Ayub Medical College Abbotabad, 5,147 at Grassy Ground Saidu Sharif, Swat, and 2,741 candidates at the University Wensem College in Dera Ismail Khan.

The result would also be communicated to all candidates individually via SMS on their mobile phones through specially prepared software by IT Section of the KMU, said the press release.