Private medical institutions given six months to comply: Recognition by PMDC
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: The Supreme Court on Friday instructed the provisionally-recognised medical institutions to make up their deficiencies within six months so that the federal government could take a final decision regarding their recognition.
“There is no concept of provisional recognition of a medical qualification by a medical institution either under the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) Ordinance 1962 or the regulations framed thereunder,” a 25-page judgment authored by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani said. The judgment dealt with appeals made by the PMDC.
The judgment deliberately avoided giving any order of closing down the provisionally-recognised medical institutions to safeguard the interests of the students studying in the colleges. It, however, directed the PMDC to carry out inspections of the provisionally-recognised institutions, if necessary, and submit its recommendations to the federal government for a final decision on the recognition of these institutions by August 2007.
After the cut-off date, the medical institutions whose cases do not qualify for recognition, would not be allowed to function, the judgment held. Reportedly, most of the 50 public- as well as private-sector medical and dental colleges in the country are either provisionally recognised by the PMDC or their status is under scrutiny.
There had been a mushroom growth of medical and dental institutions in the private sector, the judgment noted, adding that instead of academic excellence such institutions were more committed to commercialisation.
"The travails of education in public sector are appalling and are partly attributable to the lopsided national priorities pursued by those at the helm of affairs, tempting the private sector to fill the void," Justice Jillani observed.
“Rapid growth of educational institutions in the private sector on the one hand reflects the extent of public need/thirst for education and on the other a deterioration or dearth of state-run educational institutions. The quality of education in the private sector leaves much to be desired, and barring a few exceptions it reflects a pathetic state of affairs,” he stated.
He also noted that there had been a complete absence of any regulatory mechanism in the domain of general education and the private-run institutions had been allowed mostly to fleece the students and their parents.
“There are regulatory laws to regulate medical institutions, but their application needs further improvement,” he said, adding that there was a dire need to enforce the provisions of these laws to promote not only top quality medical and dental education but also to provide better quality of professional services to the people.
Referring to the students studying in those medical institutions who were not approved by the PMDC, Justice Jillani asked the federal government to accommodate these students in different medical institutions of their respective provinces.
The government must also take necessary steps not to put these students under any kind of mental pressure so that their studies did not suffer, Justice Jillani said
The Supreme Court observed that the students were being given the concession because both the PMDC and the federal government were partly responsible for their admissions to the provisionally-recognized institutions.
It ordered the PMDC to ensure composition of its council by holding elections and its subsequent meeting within six weeks of the pronouncement of the judgment.
