Majority of those on
merit list come from rural areas
LAHORE: The selection
list for admissions in MBBS and BDS, first year, for nine Punjab
public colleges was displayed at the King Edward Medical College
(KEMC) on Monday. The merit criteria ranged from 80 to 84 percent
for the 2004-05 admissions.
However, out of the
1978 seats, which included overseas and reserved seats, 159 self-finance
(SF) seats were left vacant in three medical colleges. Eighty-two
SF seats were left vacant at the Shaikh Zayed Medical College
(SZMC), Rahim Yar Khan, 62 at the Services Institute of Medical
Sciences (SIMS), Lahore, and 15 at the Quaid-e-Azam Medical College
(QMC), Bahawalpur. The ratio of vacant seats was more than 80
percent in SZMC, 60 percent in SIMS, and 75 percent in QMC. All
the admission seats available at the SZMC and the SIMS are SF-based.
The merit list, which
was forwarded to these colleges, has been prepared after applying
the Punjab government approved merit formula (65 percent weight
given to FSc results and 35 percent to entry test scores). Student
applications have been sorted on their localities and the majority
of those who made to the merit list came from rural areas.
According to the selection
list, the KEMC open merit started from 84.02 percent, Allama Iqbal
Medical College (AIMC) from 82.34 percent, Nishtar Medical College
(NMC) from 82.01 percent, Fatima Jinnah Medical College (FJMC)
from 81.68 percent, Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) from 81.36
percent, Punjab Medical College (PMC) from 80.88 percent, QMC
from 80.76 percent, SIMS (SF-based) from 82.01 percent, and SZMC
(SF-based) from 80.03 percent. The merit for SF seats in the other
seven public colleges ranged between 80.01 and 80.65 percent.
Though there were many
girls on the merit list, the top selected candidate was a boy,
Farrukh Abbas of Rajanpur (Southern Punjab). Out of the top 6
entries, two were girls, both from Lahore, whereas the boys were
from Rajanpur, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar and Faisalabad, all cities
of southern Punjab.
According to admission board officials, the KEMC was the top choice
among most candidates. For the current year admissions, the order
of colleges based on students’ preferences was KEMC, AIMC,
NMC, FJMC, RMC, PMC, QMC, SIMS and SZMC.
The admission process
started on August 10 after FSC results were announced. Entry tests
were held on September 19 by the University of Engineering and
Technology, Lahore and the final list was displayed on November
2. The colleges will announce the dates for fee submissions and
class timings schedules soon.
The Punjab government
will re-advertise the vacant seats, including those vacated by
choice, after two weeks. A Punjab government official told Daily
Times that he expected the seats to be filled on the second round
of admissions. He said that the major reasons why the SF seats
were left vacant were that people were not aware of these colleges
and that most middle-class students could not affordability them.
The annual fee for each SF seat is presently quoted at Rs 250,000.
He said that SF-based
colleges lacked essential medical equipment and were understaffed.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council had raised objection on
this issue, he said. “The government is taking measures
to equip these colleges,” he said. Table: Selection list
of candidates for first-year admissions in MBBS/BDS in Punjab
public colleges:
