The Sindh health department announced on Wednesday that the retake of the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) will be held on December 8.

On October 26, a Sindh High Court bench through a short order had ordered the authorities to retake the MDCAT within four weeks after a probe committee had unanimously concluded that the entire test procedure, conducted on September 22 in the province, was compromised.

The court had also asked the Sindh government to meet all expenditures required to retake MDCAT and to hire the services of IBA Karachi/IBA Sukkur for the purpose.

A statement issued today by the health minister’s spokesperson Meeran Yousuf said, “MDCAT will take place on December 8 through Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA).

“Three centres in Karachi, one in Hyderabad, one in Mirpurkhas, one in Nawabshah, one in Sukkur and one in Larkana will be established.”

The statement also added that 38,609 students were expected to take part in the exam.

The test will be conducted by the SIBA Testing Services.

The Sindh cabinet earlier this month approved an amount of Rs232.14 million for holding the test afresh in the province so that the candidates who appeared in the Sept 22 test could also sit in the retake free of cost.

However, the cabinet had not set a date for the retake as it directed the provincial health department to guarantee the smooth conduct of the revised test by IBA Sukkur.

Over 38,000 candidates had on Sept 22 appeared in MDCAT, organised by the Dow University of Health Sciences, in five cities of Sindh. Hours after the test, the Young Doctors Association had alleged that the MDCAT paper was leaked before the start of the exam and demanded an investigation.