ISLAMABAD: Foreign medical graduates on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) demanding that the passing marks for the National Examination Board exam be reduced from 70pc to 50pc.

They claimed that the 70pc passing marks were not being practiced in any part of the world and it had deliberately been imposed in Pakistan to discourage foreign medical graduates.

Protesters, including graduates and their parents, initially held a protest outside the PMDC building but later they blocked the road.

They expressed disappointment saying that the PMDC officers never cared about the graduates.

However, an official of the PMDC, requesting not to be named, said it was decided that a delegation of foreign medical graduates will meet PMDC President Dr Rizwan Taj on Wednesday (today) at 10am.

He further stated that it was the decision of the academic board to set passing marks at 70pc.

The recent exam was attended by around 2,700 graduates but only 108 cleared it.

Dr Taj said the demand of the students would be considered but it could not be implemented on an exam which had already been held.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2023