ISLAMABAD: Private medical colleges may be going to court against the new policy devised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) according to which the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, also known as the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), is to prepare merit lists for seven medical colleges in the federal capital from this year on.
And though Pims has been working on completing the process, admissions to colleges may be delayed due to the litigation.
According to the PMDC policy, all public sector universities are to prepare merit lists for admissions into private medical colleges.
Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram told Dawn that he had heard private medical colleges may go to the courts against the policy and that the litigation will be proof that they were making money from the admissions process and were not offering admissions on merit.
“We had planned to complete the admissions’ process in two weeks during which we will receive applications and draft merit lists for all private colleges. Every student will be told to give a list of preferred colleges and a software will determine which college students will be offered admission at,” he explained.
Private colleges may be charging for admissions forms as well, but Pims has uploaded the application form on the website, from which it can be downloaded for free, he said.
“So far, 5,000 students have applied for over 900 seats,” he said.
Dr Akram added that in the past, private colleges would charge an admission fee between Rs1 million and Rs1.5 million, which has now been reduced to Rs150,000. An annual fee of Rs642,000 will be charged compared to Rs1 million to Rs1.5 million, he said.
“It will also be ensured that only foreign students or overseas Pakistanis are offered admission on foreign students’ seats. If no such students apply, the seats will be filled via open merit,” he said.
“But now, private medical colleges are preparing to go to court against the PMDC’s policy, which will be unfair to students who want to get medical education at a reasonable cost. It will also be proof that colleges make money from students during the admissions process,” he said.
A representative of a private medical college confirmed that various colleges had decided to go to court against the decision.
“We want to conduct the admissions process ourselves because we want to produce good doctors. A student who attains a 90pc result in his intermediate does not mean he can be a good doctor,” he said.
Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar has said that the new policy will be strictly adhered to and that there will be no compromises on merit under any circumstances.
According to the regulations, a candidate must have attained at least 60pc marks in F.Sc pre medical to be eligible for admission to a medical college.
The merit formula will be 10pc matric marks, 40pc marks in F.Sc or an equivalent certificate, 50pc entry test for local students and 50pc results in MCAT or SAT for foreign students.