More and more medical students in Pakistan expressing concerns over the validity of MDCAT result, calling the existing system unfair and confusing.
According to the prevailing rules, MDCAT remains valid for consecutive years but students maintain that test difficulty varies every year and thus it is also a matter of unfairness. Most candidates, who clear the test in one attempt but fail to get a seat feel that their earlier result may be weaker than that of the students taking the exam now.
According to students, the biggest concerns were:
- No consensus in the whole country about the period for which MDCAT results should remain valid
- Change in challenge each year so that comparing is irrelevant.
- Insensitive to seat shortages, leading to an extra year of wait for many students
- Concern that earlier results might now count for nothing in a process of admissions
Parents and teachers are also demanding that the authorities make a guideline for long-term validity of NEET, so students don’t have to appear in the examination again each year unless they also want to better their score.
A number of students desire that MDCAT result remain valid for minimum three to maximum five years, etc., and having the same weightage in admissions as it was at the first attempt.
Education experts felt the government would consider re-thinking on the policy quite soon, as it is affecting lakhs of aspiring candidates by 2026 for medical and dental colleges in other states.
