ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Health Services (NHS) Abdul Qadir Patel in an unprecedented step has directed the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) and other stakeholders to make arrangements to provide an opportunity to child prisoners to become doctors, nurses and study allied health sciences.

He said children confined in jails across the country should have been allowed to take admission to the medical colleges for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), nursing colleges and allied health sciences.

NHS ministry spokesperson Sajid Shah while talking to Dawn said: “All public sector universities will be made bound to ensure that prison child and prisoners would be able to sit the admission tests of medical and dental colleges and attend classes.”

Mr Shah said the health minister had directed that steps should be taken to give an opportunity to intelligent, competent and hardworking students to join the health profession.

“Another reason for the direction is that the ministry wants to ensure that people in jails would become effective part of society and play their role in the development of the country,” he said.

When asked how the PMC and universities will hold admission tests for the prisoners and how the prisoners will attend classes which cannot be held online, Mr Shah said admissions of such children could be started from 2023.

“There is ample time for universities and the PMC to deliberate on it and come up with proposals on how it would be made possible for prisoners to attend colleges,” he said.

“The idea has been floated with a positive and good intention and I am sure that we will find a solution to make the prisoners an effective and beneficial part of the society,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Patel, in a statement, stated that it was the mission of the PPP to provide equal opportunities to all the citizens.

“No society can progress without education and we want to meet the expectations of the people,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022