PMC, others put on notice as testing system for medical admissions challenged in court

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to federal and provincial law officers, Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), provincial admission committee and others on a petition challenging the medical and dental colleges and universities admission testing system.

The petitioners who were pre-medical students submitted in the petition that the tug of war between the federal and provincial governments over the admission policy criteria for medical and dental colleges and universities has resulted in confusion of colossal proportions amongst the aspiring students who wanted to secure admissions to medical colleges and universities in the country.

They said that federal and Sindh governments had announced separate medical college and universities admission policies which had made the fate of medical students in the province in jeopardy.

They submitted that the federal and provincial governments’ committees for medical admissions had failed to provide information regarding the syllabi, criteria and weightage of the national medical and dental colleges’ admissions test and the provincial test with absolute certainty and uniformity, which caused them and students across the province not only colossal losses in terms of time and money but also extreme mental and emotional distress about the start of their professional carrier.

They submitted that the federal and provincial governments were more interested in battling for their respective political and executive powers as opposed to keeping the welfare of the petitioners and other students paramount. They submitted that the federal and provincial government had announced admission tests for medical colleges on October 18 and the second week of November under the newly introduced Pakistan Medical Commission Act and abolished the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

They said that as per the decision of the provincial admission committee, the medical colleges and universities of Sindh had announced admission tests on October 18; however, after the abolition of the PMDC ordinance, the federal government announced holding medical admission tests all over the country by creating the PMC through an act of Parliament, which creates confusion amongst the petitioners and pre-medical students in Sindh.

The high court was requested to declare that the medical and dental colleges and universities admissions criteria by the federal government were made without fulfilling mandatory legal criteria of setting up an academic board and so it was without legal effect.

The petitioners requested the SHC to also declare the medical colleges admission test on October 18 announced by the provincial admission committee as per the PMDC Admissions Regulations 2020 without legal effect as the PMDC Ordinance 1962 had been repealed and the council was dissolved in virtue of the PMC Act.

The SHC was requested to declare that the Sindh admissions committee in pursuance of the PMC Act had no lawful authority to determine the admissions criteria for private medical and dental universities and colleges in Sindh. The petitioners requested the high court to direct the admissions committee to furnish the applicable syllabus and explain with clarity the admission criteria, the distribution or the balance weightage between any provincial test and FSC or High School equivalent results after the mandatory 50 per cent weightage of the National MDCAT for admissions to the public medical and dental universities and colleges in Sindh.

They sought an injunction against the holding of tests under the federal and provincial governments scheduled for October 18 and the second week of November. A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar after preliminary hearing of the petition issued notices to the PMC, provincial admission committee and others, and called their comments on October 16.