LHC dismisses plea for MDCAT on UHS syllabus

LAHORE: : The Lahore High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a direction for the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) to conduct the upcoming Medical & dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) on the basis of the syllabus prescribed by the University of Health sciences (UHS).

A student, Muhammad Haseeb, had filed a petition pleading that the PMC in its notification on Oct 7 categorically stated that there would be no new or additional syllabus for this year’s MDCAT. However, he said, the PMC issued a revised syllabus that was new and different from that of the UHS and gave no time for preparation to the students as the MDCAT was scheduled for Nov 15. A counsel on behalf of the PMC told the court that the law required the commission to hold one single test nationwide for all medical and dental programmes in Pakistan. He said the common syllabus and table of specification setting committee was formed and the Inter Board Committee of Chairman (IBCC) was consulted for the purpose of the syllabus of the MDCAT. The counsel argued that there was nothing new in the syllabus rather it took all topics common in all the curriculums of the four provinces.

In the verdict, Justice Ayesha A Malik observes that as per the “syllabus clarification” issued by the PMC, the students would be given an objection form on the date of the test to record any objection to any question they believe outside the syllabus. The PMC would then consider these objections and if any question is found to be outside the identified syllabus it would be removed from the scoring. “No case of interference is made out. The instant petition is dismissed,” Justice Malik concludes the verdict.