A trader counts Pakistani rupee notes at a currency exchange booth in Peshawar, Pakistan December 3, 2018. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has rejected a series of petitions filed by students of medical colleges in Sindh who had sought permission to pay their fees in Pakistani currency after securing admission under foreign/overseas quota.
A three-member FCC bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan heard the petitions.
During the hearing, the students’ lawyer, Shahab Sarki, argued that the students had been given admission under the overseas quota by the universities themselves, despite the fact that the students had completed their entire education in Pakistan.
He alleged that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) had displayed notices of cases on its website instead of providing them properly to the students and that the universities had forcibly placed the students under the foreign quota.
The students’ lawyer argued that students should not be punished for the universities’ mistakes, adding that they could only be adjusted at other universities.
PMDC’s counsel, Jahangir Jadun, informed the court that the students themselves had applied for admission under the overseas quota. He claimed that both the students and the universities were responsible for admissions under a wrong quota.
“The students obtained admission to medical colleges under the overseas quota in the academic year 2022-23. After paying fees in foreign currency for two years, they approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) for permission to pay their fees in local currency.
“But the SHC rejected their writs,” he said. After hearing arguments, the FCC upheld the SHC and dismissed the students’ appeals.
The foreign quota in Pakistani medical schools reserves a percentage of seats (around 5-15%) for international students or overseas Pakistanis.
It allows students to apply with foreign qualifications such as SAT-II or MCAT/UCAT, which often require higher dollar fees, and create a separate merit list for these candidates to ensure dedicated opportunities for non-Pakistani nationals in public and private institutions.
These admissions are regulated by PMDC, the regulator of medical education in Pakistan.
