Cancellation of entry test delays academic session

PESHAWAR: The frequent cancellation of entrance test for admission to medical and dental colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has delayed the academic session by six weeks.

The test was first scheduled for July 15 but it was cancelled due to weather conditions. The test was conducted on August 19, however, it was cancelled again because of paper leak. The September 23 was fixed for conducting the test but it was also cancelled due to rain forecast. Now September 30 has been fixed for the exercise.

Teachers involved in the Joint Admission Committee (JAC) for nine public sector medical and dental colleges of the province expressed concerns over frequent cancellation of the test.

“If the test takes place on September 30 and everything goes smoothly, we are already late by six weeks to start classes for the fresh students,” a senior medical teacher said. He told Dawn that the academic year would spell over to another session.

The Education Testing and Evaluation Agency (Etea) conducts test for admission to medical and dental colleges at seven centres in the province. Each student pays Rs1,600 to appear in the test.

The JAC, comprising deans of all colleges, has been trying to start the session between October 1 and October 15 to complete the academic year prior to summer vacations in June so that the students can get prepared for the examinations.

The committee has also been taking steps to start the sessions earlier and enable the students to complete their degrees in five years that presently take six years.

About 40,000 students appear in the test for a total of 1,100 seats in the colleges because the test was conducted before the announcement of the FSc examination results.

Experts suggest that the test should be held after the announcement of the results of the FSc examinations and only those students, who secured 70 per cent marks, should be allowed to take it.

Presently, even the students of first-year take the test to get experience for the next year, but the authorities don`t take any notice of it because of the revenue generation from the same.