Students protest against preference given to medical entry tests

Flay Punjab govt, UHS for changing admission criteria at eleventh hour
Varsity spokesman says entry test weight age given according to LHC judgment
LAHORE
“It’s quite annoying that this year, the entry test was taken just 20 days before the announcement of result, unlike last year, when entry test was conducted after three months.
Asma Jamil
997 marks out of 1100 in the intermediate exams
“According to students, only 3,162 students out of the total 8,000 had passed the entry test while students obtaining 80 percent marks in the Intermediate examinations had failed.”
Policy shifts:
Original Policy:
Entry Test 30 percent weight age
Intermediate Result 70 percent marks
Revised Policy (2nd October)
Entry test (MCAT) 50 percent
Intermediate Result 40 percent
Matriculation Result 10 percent
Around 250 students held a protest in front of the Punjab Assembly on Thursday against the University of Health Sciences (UHS) and the Punjab government for giving preference to entry tests in admissions to all medical colleges of Punjab. Most of the students had obtained exceptional marks in the intermediate examination but due to poor performance in medical entry tests, they were denied admissions to various medical colleges. They chanted slogans against the UHS for conducting a new entry test after three months and giving more weight age to marks obtained in the entry test of medical colleges. The protesters blasted the HEC for changing the merit policy for medical students at the eleventh hour.
The students said that their hard work of 12 years could not be judged in the entry test, which had duration of three hours. They demanded the UHS to shun its rude behaviour towards the students. On October 6, student Ubaid Ahmed, had filed a case against the new UHS policy in the Supreme Court. Ubaid had obtained 1,015 marks in the intermediate examination and secured fourth position amongst boys in Lahore. According to the revised policy of UHS, entry test (MCAT) has 50 percent weight age, while intermediate and matriculation marks had 40 percent and 10 percent weight age respectively. Until last year, the entry test had 30 percent weight age and 70 percent marks obtained in the entrance test were included in the merit. Earlier, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had directed the UHS to conduct the entrance test for the students who were not able to appear in the test before.
The UHS spokesman said that admissions to medical and dental colleges of Punjab would be given strictly according to the criteria laid down by the LHC in its judgment of September 6.
Asma Jamil, who got 997 marks out of 1100 in the intermediate exams said, “It’s quite annoying that this year, the entry test was taken just 20 days before the announcement of result, unlike last year, when entry test was conducted after three months. The LHC did not direct the UHS to decrease the weight age of marks obtained in the intermediate exams. It was false claim of the UHS.”
Ubaid Ahmed, another student said, “Our future is on stake, even after getting more than 1000 marks.” He said that the UHS had changed its policy on October 2, nearly two months after the entrance test, which was quite surprising for all students. UHS officials said that according to the LHC judgment, the varsity followed the formula granting 50 percent weight age to the entry test. According to students, only 3,162 students out of the total 8,000 had passed the entry test while students obtaining 80 percent marks in the Intermediate examinations had failed.