ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday ordered Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) to upload the questionnaire papers of Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) on website so that students could crosscheck their answers.

IHC Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir disposing of the petitions of students issued the order.

The students claimed that in the MDCAT, which was held on Sept 22 and given by over 20,000 candidates, around 27 out of 200 questions were out of course.

The petitioners have requested the court to declare the test null and void and direct the relevant authorities to conduct the MDCAT again otherwise grace marks should be given for the 27 out-of-syllabus questions.

Their counsel, however, pointed out before the court that unlike other universities, the SZABMU did not upload the question papers following the exam in order to enable the students to crosscheck their answers later on.

A few students informed the court that in addition to out-of-course question papers the key provided to them by the university management was showing different answers for the same questions in different arrangements.

They demanded that the university immediately make the questions public and check what was wrong with the key. They also demanded that a new committee be established in which there was representation of students and faculty members of independent colleges that were not affiliated with the SZABMU.

The court issued a short order directing the university management to upload the question papers.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2024