ISLAMABAD: A proposal to fix passing marks at 50 percent for admission to medical colleges if seats remain vacant even after lowering merit was floated in the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services on Monday.
The meeting, chaired by Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, reviewed complaints regarding excessive fee collection by private medical and dental colleges.
The Chairman of the Committee observed that medical colleges are permitted to charge fees up to Rs. 18 lakh per annum, but complaints have been received that some institutions are charging far above the approved limit.
“Share the details of those medical colleges that are charging higher fees,” the Chairman directed the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council [PM&DC].
The Chairman also raised concern over the persistent issue of vacant seats in medical colleges.
He proposed that even after reducing the merit, seats have remained vacant, so why not keep the passing percentage at 50 percent and reduce the percentage of difficult questions in the MDCAT.
Briefing the committee, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said that 61 medical colleges had applied for an increase in fees, adding that no college can increase fees on its own.
“Only 35 out of 61 colleges have fulfilled the conditions for increasing the fees. Medical colleges that do not meet the conditions cannot increase the fees,” the Health Minister told the panel.
PM&DC President Dr. Rizwan Taj said that the Council has issued notices to the colleges against which complaints of charging excessive fees have been received.
Addressing the issue of vacant seats, Federal Minister Mustafa Kamal said, “The issue of vacant seats is also our problem. Where the fee is 3.5 million, none of the seats are vacant. If there was a fee issue, the seats of those with high fees would also be vacant.”
Giving details of increase in seats, the PM&DC President informed the committee that 468 seats have been increased in government colleges of Punjab, while 315 seats have been increased for FATA.
When the Chairman inquired about the increase in seats for Sindh, the PM&DC President replied that seats for Sindh were not increased because the province did not apply for it.
