Entrance test for MBBS/BDS Hurdle removed for 63 foreign students
Lahore, May 30: A high-level committee headed by Senator Ishaq Dar has endorsed the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's decision to exempt 63 foreign students from entrance test or Scholastic Aptitude Test Part-II (SAT-II) examination, holding them eligible for admission to the public-sector medical colleges in the province.
The documents revealed that earlier these (foreign) students, nominated by the Economic Affairs Division for admission to the medical colleges of Punjab under the Pakistan Technical Assistant Programme (PTAP), had been exempted by the PMDC from entrance test or SAT-II examination in September 2010, setting a precedent for such sort of admissions.
The council took a decision on the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which had sought favour for the students of those countries with whom Pakistan enjoys good relations.
The medical organisations and other stakeholders had criticised the council's initiative, observing that the system should not be 'breached' at any cost to maintain education standard in the country as well as abroad.
The PMDC later directed the administrations of the medical colleges to accommodate these students. The Punjab government, however, turned down the decision on the recommendations of a committee headed by Senator Ishaq Dar, which categorically refused to "compromise on basic minimum eligibility criteria" in its recommendations formulated on Feb 14, 2011.
The documents say the committee also directed these students to appear on May 7 for entrance test and SAT-II exam and declared that only those who would pass these exams would be held eligible for admissions.
Of the total 67 nominated students, only four could qualify the examination and the remaining 63 did not appear owing to English-language problem as most of them came from Arab states.
Meanwhile, the embassies of 19 countries continued to exert pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan "to relax its laws" and accommodate their 63 students without entrance test or SAT-II exam.
The Cultural Counselor Embassy of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in a letter of Feb 23, 2011, sought intervention of the EAD secretary in the matter. "I would like to draw your kind attention towards a very serious issue created by the authorities of medical and dental colleges in Punjab for admission of foreign students that they must pass entrance test or SAT-II examination as pre-requisite," read the letter.
He said the embassy had nominated some Jordanian students for admission to study MBBS under the PTAP for the session 2010-2011 at the UHS under the impression that the PMDC had exempted all the foreign students from passing entrance test/SAT-II examination for MBBS/BDS for this session.
"All our students have been declared eligible for admission by the IBBC, Islamabad, declaring their certificates as equivalent to HSSC (pre-medical) of Pakistan with excellent grades.
"Now at this belated stage when the students have been admitted to the colleges and attending classes regularly for the last two months the recommendations of the committee constituted by the Punjab chief minister, if implemented, will create a lot of difficulties for many departments and individuals," the letter said.
It further argued how a student could be asked to go back to his country by bearing travel expenses. Such an action could spoil a student's academic future, it added.
Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised the issue in a letter (No DG(SA)-1/1/2011) and requested the Punjab government to reconsider its previous decision.
The chief minister constituted another five-member committee (again headed by Senator Ishaq Dar) to review its decision. Also on the committee were Justice Aamer Raza Khan (retired), Punjab Health Secretary Muhammad Jehanzeb, UHS Member Board of Governors Prof Amer Aziz and UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Malik Hussain Mubbashar.
The committee met on May 23 and was informed that the ministries of foreign affairs and economic affairs and statistics had sought exemption from entrance test/SAT-II examination for the students of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Jordan, Yemen, Indian occupied Kashmir and other neighbouring countries.
The committee formulated recommendations which said: "The nominated bona fide foreign national candidates, who have not appeared in entrance test/SAT-II examination with requisite score, may be exempted from this requirement for session 2010-2011 only and allowed to continue their studies. However, it is not to be quoted as a precedent in future."
It further recommended that "the nominated candidates of Pakistani origin, having dual nationality, shall have to pass the SAT-II examination with a minimum score of 550 marks in each science subject including biology, chemistry and physics/mathematics before their provisional admission could be regularised.
"EAD and HEC may be asked to ensure, in future, that all foreign candidates fulfill the conditions laid down in the prospectus before nominating them for admissions to public-sector medical and dental colleges of Punjab.
"EAD and HEC should devise their own mechanism to widely disseminate the eligibility conditions for admission of foreign students to MBBS/BDS through Pakistani embassies in other countries and also to advertise these in international media. It would be more appropriate that HEC and EAD get the eligibility of these candidates verified by UHS before finalising their nomination," the committee said.
In view of the fact that every year a number of foreign reserved seats remain vacant in the medical and dental colleges due to unavailability of eligible candidates, the committee also took another important decision and proposed a policy for session 2011-12 and onwards.
According to new policy, "the HEC and EAD shall complete their admission process strictly according to the rules and regulations as laid down in the prospectus of the same session and their nominations should reach the Punjab health secretary on or before Nov 30. After this date, all vacant foreign reserved seats shall be converted into open merit seats and candidates from the waiting list of Punjab shall be admitted, strictly on merit, against these seats." Dawn
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