The Education and Evaluation Testing Agency (ETEA) has opposed the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) decision to award grace marks to all students in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) if 90 percent of candidates fail to answer questions correctly.
The decision, which has sparked outrage among students and parents, was made in response to concerns about the difficulty of the MDCAT exam. However, ETEA argues that the grace marks policy would unfairly disadvantage the 10 percent of students who answered correctly.
In an official letter to PMDC, ETEA emphasized the importance of upholding justice by not penalizing the high-performing minority. The agency also urged regional commissioners and authorities to crack down on individuals attempting to sell advance access to MDCAT questions.
The controversy has also led to financial losses for ETEA, amounting to Rs. 23 million, due to the rescheduling of MDCAT from 27 August 2023 to 10 September. ETEA had pre-booked air-conditioned halls across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and incurred expenses.
The situation has also revealed a logistical challenge, as ETEA had already booked 49 wedding halls for MDCAT in various cities when the exam date was changed. ETEA plans to seek financial compensation from PMDC and KMU, both of which collect fees from candidates but have no direct involvement in exam arrangements.
This unexpected turn of events may also complicate ETEA’s financial audits, as auditors may question the dual allocation of funds for MDCAT.
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