Entrance test for medical colleges causes unprecedented traffic mess

Published July 25, 2016
Students take entrance test in Peshawar on Sunday for admission to medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. —Photo by Shahbaz Butt
Students take entrance test in Peshawar on Sunday for admission to medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. —Photo by Shahbaz Butt

PESHAWAR/ABBOTTABAD: A large number of motorists and commuters spent Sunday on the University Road in Peshawar bearing the scorching heat owing to mismanagement in conducting entrance test for medical colleges at two places in the provincial capital.

Thousands of cars of the candidates’ parents were double parked on both lanes of the University Road, leaving little space for other vehicles to ply on it. The candidates, especially girls, and their parents spent a hectic day before and after the entrance test.

The traffic mess was natural as 15,724 candidates appeared in the entrance test at two nearby spots, according to official statement of Khyber Medical University. Of them, 9,100 candidates appeared in the test arranged at the ground of Islamia Collegiate School while 6,624 took the test at cricket ground of Khyber Medical College.

Besides Peshawar, entrance tests were also conducted in three other cities but the number of candidates was not so high there. A total of 3,961 candidates appeared in the test at Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, 5,147 at Grassy Ground Saidu Sharif, Swat and 2,741 at University Wensem College Dera Ismail Khan centre.


Parents of candidates, commuters spend entire day in scorching heat owing to mismanagement


A total of 27,573 candidates including 16,791 male and 10,782 female appeared in the entrance test across the province.

“Why the candidates of 12 districts and six tribal agencies have been assembled for test at two nearby spots,” questioned the candidates and their parents while talking to Dawn.

The candidates came to Peshawar from Charsadda, Swabi, Nowshera, Mardan, Karak, Kohat, Hangu, Malakand, Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Chitral, Khyber Agency, Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency, Orakzai Agency and Kurram Agency for taking the test.

Many of them had spent the night at the local hotels or with their relatives in Peshawar to reach the centre of entry test on time.

“Why the KMU not conducting entrance test at divisional or district level to ease burden on Peshawar,” questioned a senior journalist, stuck in the unprecedented traffic mess. There was no traffic management, he said.

He said that the authorities at KMU should work out traffic management plan a day before the entrance test.

“Every candidate pays Rs1,600 to KMU as fee for entrance test but despite that the they suffer a lot,” one of the candidates told Dawn. He said that thousands of candidates and their parents took hours just to leave the test venue.

KUM Vice-chancellor Prof Hafizullah, when contacted, said that the university administration was contemplating on holding online entrance test as the existing procedure was discomforting for the candidates.

“It is my desire to hold the entrance test in the next year in 10 days instead of one through computers,” he said.

Asked why entrance tests were not arranged at divisional or district level, Prof Hafizullah said that Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (EATA) conducted the test and he could suggest to it. He said that EATA was short of resources and couldn’t conduct entry test at divisional or district level simultaneously.

However, sources in EATA told Dawn that it was responsible only for conducting test wherever the KMU wanted. The KMU was responsible to select districts or divisions for holding test by providing all logistic support to EATA, they said.

The existing burden could be reduced to a large extent if two more centers were arranged in Mardan and Kohat, they added.

The entrance test, conducted by ETEA, was organised by KMU for admissions to public and private sector medical and dental colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Abbottabad, traffic on main Karakorum Highway remained blocked for more than two hours as thousands of students appeared in the entrance test at Ayub Medical College.

Advocate Tauqeer Rehman, father of a student, told Dawn that test was conducted in haphazard manner. He said that the time to enter the venue was 6am while the college gates were opened at 6:40am. The closing time of gates was 8am but till 9am hundreds of students were entering through the one gate that created panic among the candidates, he added.

The parents, who were not allowed to enter the college, had to wait for more than three hours on the road that resulted blockade of roads. Hundreds of vehicles were parked on both sides of the roads.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016

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