PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Doctors’ Association has voiced concern about a 33 per cent increase in the registration fee for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) and urged the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council to reconsider the decision.

The PDA leaders told Dawn that the fee hike from Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 would badly hit middle-class students, who achieved good grades in intermediate exams, making it difficult for them to sit the test.

They said 200,000 students would take the test countrywide and 50,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, generating revenue of Rs1.6 billion and Rs400 million, respectively.

“The regulator for medical education [PMDC] should understand that students from low- income backgrounds won’t be able to afford MDCAT fee after the 33.34 per cent hike. This test is just 3.5 hours long and is held in government-owned centres with minimal rental costs, so the fee increase is unjustified,” a PDA office-bearer said.

Doctors insist decision to hit students from poor background

With Section 17 of the PMDC Act dealing with MDCAT, its sub-section 1 declares that the provincial governments are responsible for holding the test in their respective areas through admitting universities.

The test in the province will be conducted by the Khyber Medical University, one of the six admitting universities in the country, with the help of the health and home and tribal affairs departments, according to officials.

They said the PMDC was responsible for the preparation of syllabus and registration of students, so the candidates deposited the test fee in its bank account.

The officials said under the PMDC Act, candidates had to attempt 200 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours, with the pass marks for MBBS and BDS courses being 55pc and 50pc, respectively.

They added that the admitting universities had to identify test centres, deploy invigilators, install CCTV cameras, provide ballpoints and clipboards to students, develop, print and package question paper, conduct test, compile results, and recheck papers, while the respective provincial governments would provide security for the transportation of examination material and administrative support to universities for the test.

The officials also said the exercise involved the chief secretary and additional chief secretary (home and tribal affairs), police, higher education department, district administration, and health department.

Sources in the health department told Dawn that the fee deposited by the MDCAT candidates went to the PMDC, which paid universities for their expenses.

They said last year, the actual expenditure of the majority of the universities was Rs5,000 per student but Rs2,500 each was given away to them for holding the test as well as scrutinising candidates and following their registration and admission.

The sources said the health department wanted the PMDC to “do more for admitting universities in terms of financial support.”

Registration for the Sept 22 test began on Monday and will continue until August 19.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2024