Medical colleges lower passing marks as seats remain vacant

The matter was discussed during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services, chaired by MNA Mahesh

ISLAMABAD: A proposal to reduce the passing threshold for medical college admissions to 50 percent has emerged amid concerns over vacant seats despite efforts to lower merit requirements.

The matter was discussed during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services, chaired by MNA Mahesh Kumar. The committee also examined complaints alleging that some medical colleges were charging fees above the permitted limit.

Committee Chairman Mahesh Kumar said medical colleges are allowed to charge annual fees of up to Rs1.8 million. He directed officials to provide details of institutions allegedly collecting higher fees from students.

The chairman also questioned why seats were still remaining vacant after merit requirements had already been relaxed. He suggested that the passing marks could be set at 50 percent and that the proportion of difficult questions in the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s entrance examination could also be reviewed.

Federal Health Minister said 61 medical colleges had applied for permission to increase their fees. However, he clarified that colleges cannot raise fees independently and that only 35 of the 61 institutions had fulfilled the required conditions for a fee increase. Colleges failing to meet the prescribed criteria would not be permitted to charge higher fees.

The President of the PMDC informed the committee that notices had been issued to medical colleges against which complaints of excessive fee collection had been received.

Committee member Mustafa Kamal said vacant seats were also a concern for the authorities, but argued that high fees alone could not explain the situation. He pointed out that colleges charging around Rs3.5 million had not faced vacant seats, suggesting that other factors may also be contributing to the problem.

The PMDC president further informed the committee that 468 additional seats had been approved for government medical colleges in Punjab, while 315 seats had been added for students from the former FATA region.

When the committee chairman asked about an increase in medical seats in Sindh, the PMDC president said no additional seats had been allocated because the province had not submitted an application for an increase.