More than 33,000 candidates appeared in Sindh’s MDCAT, but the question paper was withheld under a PMDC directive issued before the examination.
The release of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) answer key and results in Sindh has raised questions over transparency after candidates were not given access to the question paper.
More than 33,000 candidates appeared in the MDCAT across Sindh on Sept. 20, including more than 9,000 candidates from Karachi. While candidates received carbon copies of their Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) answer sheets, the question paper was not released after the examination.
It later emerged that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) had instructed universities conducting the test not to allow candidates to retain copies of the question paper.
In a notification issued by the council’s Registration Office and Examination Department on Sept. 10, 10 days before the examination, universities were directed to collect the question papers from candidates immediately after the test.
The universities were also instructed to ensure that no candidate retained a copy of the paper. According to the notification, the measure was intended to ensure a better examination process. The directive was also shared with the health secretaries of all four provinces.
Sukkur IBA University conducted the MDCAT in Sindh. Its Vice Chancellor, Dr. Asif Sheikh, said the university had released the question paper after last year’s examination but could not do so this year because of the PMDC directive.
Sheikh said the university could make the paper public if the council granted permission.
PMDC President Dr. Rizwan Taj said the decision was taken on the recommendation of vice chancellors of the universities conducting the examination. According to Taj, the vice chancellors had advised against releasing the question paper.
The MDCAT consisted of 180 multiple-choice questions, while the answer key was uploaded on the night of Sept. 20.
The continued unavailability of the question paper has prompted concerns among some candidates, who said the answer key alone did not provide enough information to properly verify their responses.
Several candidates also raised concerns about answers in the English and Logical Reasoning sections, claiming that some answers in the published key appeared to be incorrect.
Candidates said access to the question paper would allow them to compare the questions with the official answer key and identify any possible discrepancies.
The Sukkur IBA vice chancellor said the university had reviewed the answer keys several times and remained satisfied with their accuracy. However, he said the university was bound by the PMDC instructions and could release the question paper only after receiving approval from the council.
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