PESHAWAR, Oct 28: The admission to medical colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the basis of quota is depriving local students of their right to become doctors despite securing more marks in FSc, officials say.

“There are 1,280 seats in 11 medical and dental colleges of the province but the students of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa run only for 686 seats on open merit as 594 seats go to those seeking admission under quota system and self-finance basis,” officials said. They added that Supreme Court of Pakistan had abolished quotas through a verdict in 2000.

The court had ordered termination of 30 per cent quota and instructed that students from Federally Administered Tribal Areas and other backwards areas should avail the facility till the court review the decision in 2007, officials said.

“Any affected student, who can be ultimately beneficiary of the abolition of quota in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa medical colleges, could be admitted in line with the previous judgment of supreme court,” officials said.

Every year, 128 students from Fata, 39 from backward districts of the province, 29 on Fata and Balochistan project seats, 34 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 12 Afghan nationals and seven from Gilgit-Baltistan were admitted to the medical colleges, which officials said, was an encroachment on the right of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa students.

Of those seats, 182 were filled through general self-finance scheme and 75 through self-finance scheme, they said.

Officials said that quota-based admission had always been opposed in medical colleges as only intelligent students should become doctors. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on many occasions had pointed out that medical colleges should be exempted from taking students on quota because those getting admission on basis of quota couldn’t become doctors, they said.

According to them, quota system was in place for 60 years but the objectives behind it weren’t achieved. The plan was aimed at giving admission to students from outside in the medical colleges to improve patients’ care in those areas.

“The strategy hasn’t worked and these students aren’t fit to become doctors. About 15 million people are dependent on open seats,” officials said.

They said that medical teachers had argued that health indicators hadn’t been improved in Fata or the backward areas of the province from where students with lesser marks got admission in the medical colleges.

The intelligent students have to compete for open seats and face tough competition.

Early in eighties the medical colleges started giving 30 per cent seats to women to produce more lady doctors in view of the patients’ needs but the quota was abolished when it was acknowledged after a decade that the objective had not been achieved.

Under that incentive, more women became doctors but they didn’t work at the hospitals, especially after getting married, officials said. They added besides Fata, five seats were reserved for Kohistan, six for Chitral, four for Dir Upper, four for Gadoon Amazai, three for Buner, two for Shangla, two for Kalam and two for Dir Lower in the medical colleges of the province.

Currently, besides 75 seats at Khyber Girls Medical College, girl students had outnumbered boys with a ratio of 60:40 in other medical education, officials said.

“Generally it is considered a positive development that more women are competing to become doctors but there is no benefit, keeping in view the past experience as production of more female doctors has become counter-productive,” they said.

Quota-based admission in medical and dental colleges should be done away with immediately and medical education should be tailored in line with the need of the population of the province, officials said.