Is the PMC Finally Ready to Negotiate on the MDCAT Crisis?
On 23rd September, 2021, a number of MDCAT aspirants met with the PMC (Pakistan Medical Commission) president at the PMC premises, Islamabad, to discuss these issues. The PMC released a notice following the meeting, outlining student grievances and demands, and retorting with their respective views on each grievance and further points of notice.
Find the link for the PMC meeting document here: https://bit.ly/39I8x4X
It is safe to say the grievances of the students were not well-handled, and concerns largely invalidated. The issues were not treated with much sensitivity either, as were deftly summarized into three points by the PMC:
Technical audit to ensure the system is functioning as a standard process.
Post exam analysis for which eh results will be publicized with vague and discriminatory questions removed and students be awarded a mark.
Post-exam rechecks.
Students can not be shown a physical copy of the exam since it was digitized or the question bank is to remain confidential as academies could take advantage of the keys and lower the quality and comptentibies of future exams.
Students were not satisfied with the document. On social media, there was an uproar to the document released by the PMC, with the MDCAT aspirants sharing their sentiments.
The student above shared that it is extremely unlikely that toppers would fail the MDCAT. A low score is also not very believable, but failing is out of the question. They accersicirized their tweet with the hashtags #WeRejectPmcMdcatTest2021 and #shameonpmc.
The tweeter above also shared their thoughts, stating a lack of transparency in towards the claims put forth by the PMC, with the decision and clarification “politically motivated” and in need of “international forensic investigation”.
The above MDCAT aspirant took issue with the supposedly “easier” difficulty level the PMC outlined with the 2021 MDCAT examination, sharing that the syllabus mentioned “80% of test questions for 2021 are Moderate or Hard”.
Influential lawyer and activist Mr. Jibran Nasir has also taken personal interest in the issue. In the tweet below, he pushed for the issue to the legal sphere, sharing that a petition against the MDCAT and PMC policies was taken to the high court and the hearing is scheduled for two weeks after.
Students have not just been relegating their concerns to social media or the law, but to the streets. MDCAT aspirants and doctors-to-be have been peacefully protesting for weeks, along with attempting to seek the attention of the Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
Students are not the only ones speaking up against the injustices of the PMC and this year's MDCAT. Nearpeer is also taking a strong stand in support of the MDCAT aspirants.
Nearpeer co-founder, Ammar Ali Ayub, released a statement questioning PMC over the MDCAT results. Watch the full video here. He also wrote to the president of the PMC an open letter, attaching thousands of students' concerns and signatories in the process. To be a part of the change, you can fill out the form here. Sir Ammar also taught the MDCAT Logical Reasoning course for free on Youtube. Click here to check out the full course by Sir Ammar!
For years, Nearpeer has supported student concerns and demands when it comes to quality education in Pakistan. We still stand steadfast with the MDCAT aspirants. Stay tuned for more updates and share your thoughts in the comment box below.