Medical colleges entrance test in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Entrance test for medical colleges: University, evaluation agency at loggerheads
Peshawar, Aug 09: The Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency and Khyber Medical University have locked horns over the decision of the latter to conduct entrance test for admission in medical and dental colleges of the province, according to sources.

The Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETAE) argues that it has been conducting tests since its establishment in 1998 while the KMU sticks to its stance that it is legally qualified to take the entrance tests for admission in its affiliated medical and dental colleges.

For the first time, KMU, the first public sector medical university, is holding the entrance test. Previously, ETAE conducted entrance tests in the province.

The KMU has started registration of students for appearance in the entrance test for admission in Khyber Medical College Peshawar, Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, Saidu Medical College Swat, Gomal Medical College Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar, Jinnah Medical College and Post Graduate Medical Institute Peshawar.

The ETEA, an educational entity, was established in November, 1998, by the government through an assembly Act. It is supervised by a board of governors, headed by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The minister for higher education is the vice-chairman and secretary higher education department is one of the members. The executive director of ETEA is the secretary of the board.

According to sources a joint admission committee, comprising principals of all the medical and dental colleges, is also unhappy over the decision as they say that entrance test is a source of income for Khyber Medical College which raises an amount of Rs2 to Rs3 million every year from sale of prospectuses.

The ETEA, sources, said had also written to the secretary health explaining that it was its exclusively domain to conduct the entrance test for admission in medical and dental colleges.

Under the new arrangements, the entrance test would be conducted by ETEA under the umbrella of KMU, which had assumed the responsibility to hold tests from this year onwards.

Sources said that ETEA had dispatched documentary evidence to the government to prove their point that it should be allowed to hold the tests. It also argued that it had vast experience and relevant expertise to conduct the entrance test and announce results and doing the same under KMU's umbrella might affect the outcome of the entrance test.

The KMU had earlier announced August 8 for holding entrance test for more than 1,000 seats in public sector medical and dental colleges of the province, but it deferred the test in the wake of floods.

According to KMU administration, it is its domain to hold the tests for admission in its affiliated medical and dental colleges. "The KMU conducts all professional examinations of all the public sector medical colleges in the province and it should hold the entrance test because it is also a professional test," it said.

The KMU officials also argued that the university was established through an assembly Act in 2008 and before it ETEA was conducting the entrance test. Now, the KMU had its full-fledged examination system and legal status to conduct such tests, they added.

Besides medical and dental colleges, KMU also holds entrance tests for admission in Khyber Institute of Community ophthalmology Peshawar and Udhyana Institute of Medical Technologies Abbottabad. Dawn

Post your comments

PMA concerned over 'brain drain' of doctors
Lahore: Recruitment of nearly 600 Pakistani doctors in the disciplines of community and family medicine by the Saudi government will further aggravate the shortage of doctors in the country, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) said in a statement on Sunday.

PMA office-bearers have demanded the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister to check the 'brain drain', as the Saudi Ministry of Health has offered 10,000 to 12,000 Saudi Riyals (300,000 Pakistani rupees) per month to these doctors.

PMA office-bearers including Dr Yasmin Raashid, Dr M Tanveer Anwar, Dr Ashraf Nizami and Dr Shahid Malik further pointed out that four seats of professors, seven seats of associate professors and 12 seats of assistant professors of community medicine have been lying vacant across the province, while a similar condition could be witnessed in other provinces as well.

The government has been paying these consultants Rs 22,000 to Rs 40,000 per month while the Saudi government has offered them 12,000 Riyals per month for the same services. "It is a shame that our government has never been bothered about the shortage of vascular surgeons and ICU specialists in our public hospitals, whereas the Saudi government is so much concerned about the health of its people that it is hiring consultants from Pakistan, though for a minor specialty, and is even offering a special salary package," they added. Daily times

Post your comments

SU employees urge raise in salary
Hyderabad: Sindh University employees continued their protest on the fifth consecutive day on Saturday to press for the acceptance of their demands.

Under the banner of the employees association, they took out a procession from Jamshoro campus and reached the Old campus in Hyderabad where employees of other universities joined them. Later, they held a demonstration outside the press club.

Speaking on the occasion, association leaders said they held demonstrations for their legal right, but the university administration was threatening them with dire consequences.

They said that at a meeting held with the vice-chancellor and registrar and other members of a committee constituted by the VC, employees had been clearly told that their salaries and medical allowance would not be increased by 50 per cent and 100 per cent respectively, as announced by the government.

They said that children of the retired employees were not being given employment nor other problems of the employees were being solved.

Meanwhile, leaders of the All Sindh Universities Employees Federation, Hussain Bux Veesar and Mohammad Soomar Jamali have assured the Sindh University employees that the federation supported their demands and if the Sindh University administration took any action against the protesting employees, there would be retaliation in all the public universities of the province. Dawn

Post your comments

ZU entry test
Karachi: The Ziauddin University (ZU) has announced the entry test for MBBS, BDS, Pharma D and Speech Language Therapy Programmes, which will be held on August 8 at 10:00am in the ZU Clifton campus. Students are instructed to follow the timings. Faculty members and other staff will be present in the university.

Post your comments

Admission in SMI College
Karachi: Principal, Sindh Madressatul Islam (SMI) College, Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, has announced that admissions in first year (Pre-Engineering, Pre-Medical and Commerce) will open from Monday (today). According to a press release issued here on Sunday, he added that male and female candidates who secured 'A' grades in the matriculation examinations would be eligible to get admission forms. The forms are available in the office of the controller of the Home Examinations of SMI College with the payment of Rs200 on working days, he said. Dr Shaikh further said that it was the first time that SMI College was adding commerce classes to its college section. The news

Post your comments