A stringent new policy is set to be enforced by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for the upcoming admission test. It results in outrage from parents all around the nation. All applicants under the age of 18 must now bring a legal Juvenile Registration Card from Nadra to be eligible for taking the test. Biometric screening will be required for each test center.
Parents Slam Extra Costs and Long Queues
The family believes that the rule adds undue financial and organizational stress at an unfortunate moment. Most parents believe that the candidate’s picture is already mentioned in the metric mark sheet. This itself serves as sufficient identification proof.
PMDC Defends Move as Step Toward Digitisation
Registrar of PMDC Dr Rehan Naqvi asserts that the new mandate was introduced by the council for digitization purposes. Furthermore, it will help people procure juvenile registration cards for their children. According to him, a similar notice was issued by the officials earlier last year. People were told that those without the card could still sit for the test. However, the official believes that it would help sensitize the public about the advantages of such documents. Unfortunately, the parents disagree. They are asking the council to rescind its decision. This is because there are about 200,000 such candidates.
The issue reflects how difficult it is to modernize the admission procedure. Since time for preparation for the MDCAT is running out fast, parents have been forced to rush to get the document.
According to PMDC, juvenile ID card along with biometric tests is mandatory for all candidates under the age of 18 years appearing in MDCAT. Parents are annoyed with this decision due to additional expenses and limited validity of cards.
