Sindh govt announces date for MDCAT re-conduct

KARACHI: The caretaker provincial government on Sunday announced that the re-conducted Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) for 2023 will take place on November 19.

As per the Sindh Health Department’s announcement, the MDCAT 2023 is scheduled for a re-conduct facilitated by the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). The exam is set to take place at the Karachi Expo Centre on November 19, running from 10:30am to 2pm.

Read more: KP MDCAT exams on Nov 26

BACKGROUND

On September 10, the exam was simultaneously conducted in 31 cities across the country, with over 180,000 hopeful candidates participating. Additionally, according to a spokesperson for the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), 382 students took the test at international centres including 185 in Dubai and 197 in Saudi Arabia.

The PMDC spokesperson provided a breakdown of the number of candidates from different provinces with 66,875 appearing in Punjab, 40,528 in Sindh, 46,439 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 9,230 from Balochistan. Furthermore, 926 candidates appeared in Gilgit-Baltistan, 4,036 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and 12,118 in Islamabad.

Following the MDCAT examination on September 10, complaints surfaced from various cities, including allegations of paper leaks, questions falling outside the prescribed syllabus, and errors in the answer keys.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) has already informed all the commissioners about the planned cheating in the test. ETEA also informed that the news of the test having been leaked has also circulated on social media.

The use of advanced technology for cheating in the exam sent shockwaves through the medical community after it was found that wireless GSM pens with microphones and micro earpieces, believed to be manufactured in China were used allowing remote communication and guidance for solving the exam paper.

Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan expressed his dismay at the use of advanced technology for cheating, emphasizing the need for a thorough investigation. A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been formed to uncover the culprits, with suspicions pointing towards influential educational academies involved in unethical practices.

Consequently, multiple arrests were also made in the case.