ISLAMABAD: Since September last year, Nida Tariq has been preparing for the entrance test to get admission to any government medical college in the Punjab province.

Though the 20-year-old student from Sector G-8/2 appeared in an entry test held in September 2013, she could not reach the final stage to get admission to the MBBS class.

“Though I worked hard for four years and got good marks in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the HSSC exams, it was my bad luck that I failed to get admission to any medical college due to the ‘negative marking’ in the entry test by the University of Health Sciences (UHS),” she said.

Nida said the procedure of the entry test needed to be revised otherwise it would be difficult for the students with good marks to fulfil their dreams of serving the nation.

“Can it be justified that the result of four years’ hard work is equal to that of the entry test of one day,” she asked.

“If two questions of a student are correct, they will get 10 marks as one question carries five marks in the entry test. But if one question is correct and the second is wrong, the student will get only four marks as they will lose one mark from the total under the system of negative marking,” she explained.

Like Nida, Abdullah Zafar, 21, a resident of Westridge in Rawalpindi, is also busy in preparing for the entry test again.

“I did my HSSC from the Punjab College with 911 marks out of the total 1100 last year and secured 801 marks out of 1100 in the entry test of the UHS in 2013. However, I failed to get admission to any medical college.”

Abdullah said the university management considered 10 per cent marks of the SSC, 40 per cent marks of the HSSC, which are completed in four years, and 50 per cent marks of the entry test to calculate the aggregate marks for admission to a medical college.Abdullah said the fear about the negative marking created ambiguity in the minds of the students to answer multiple questions. Danish George, 18, a resident of cantonment area in Rawalpindi, is attending a coaching centre to prepare for the medical college entry test.

He said it was very difficult for any student to answer 220 questions in just 150 minutes.

Besides, students interested in getting admission to the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, are also in the process of preparing for the entry test which will be held on August 24.

Arsalan Mushtaq, 19, a resident of Shah Khalid Colony in Rawalpindi, wants to get admission to the UET.

He said the university entrance test carried 400 marks but it was very difficult for any student to secure good marks in the presence of the negative marking.

“It is unfortunate that a test of one day determines my whole career as it is being considered equal to the hard work of my four years in the SSC and HSSC classes,” he added.

Zubair Idrees, 18, a resident of Westridge, said some private engineering universities had hired the services of the National Testing Service (NTS) for conducting the entry tests. He said the NTS did not make negative marking. The UET has around 2300 seats in different fields of engineering, he added.

According to the students, the management of the UHS only allows students with at least 82 per cent aggregate marks to submit their forms for admission to the medical colleges after the entry test results. However, to appear in the entry test, the university management has fixed the criterion of 60 per cent marks.

“If the UHS does not allow anyone below 82 per cent aggregate marks to submit forms for admission to consider their names in the merit lists, why it allows anyone below 70 per cent marks in the HSSC exams to appear in the entry test,” they questioned.

The applicants said it was difficult for everyone to get admission in private medical colleges which charged Rs0.6 million to Rs0.8 million annually.

They also alleged that the management of the private medical colleges had increased the fees dues without any approval of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

An official of the USH told Dawn that around 40,000 students had applied for admission to the 3405 seats of MBBS and BDS in the 18 public sector medical colleges in Punjab in 2013.

He said the university management allowed students with 60 per cent marks to appear in the entry test to earn money.

When contacted, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) Registrar, Dr Raja Amjad Mahmood, said the provincial governments and the NTS were responsible for conducting the entry test across Pakistan.

“It is unfortunate that students are suffering due to the negative marking in the entry test of the UHS. There should be a uniform procedure of taking test for admissions to the medical colleges in all the provinces,” he said.

The registrar said as per the PMDC regulations, the medical colleges considered 10 per cent marks of the SSC, 40 per cent marks of the HSSC and 50 per cent marks of the entry test to calculate the aggregates of any student for admission to medical colleges. But this procedure should be revised as soon as possible.”

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014