RAWALPINDI: Teachers' bodies have expressed grave concern over 743 medical and dental college seats remaining vacant across Pakistan despite relaxed merit criteria and a 45-day extension in the admissions process. They attribute this unprecedented situation to the growing inability of parents to bear the escalating cost of higher and professional education.
Joint Statement by Teacher Leaders
In a joint statement, representatives of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association and the Punjab Teachers Union—Basharat Iqbal Raja, Professor Ilyas Qureshi, and Malik Amjad—said the failure to fill MBBS and BDS seats, despite concessions in admission requirements, reflects the severe financial pressures facing families across the country.
Breakdown of Vacant Seats
According to the associations, Pakistan's 187 medical and dental colleges offer more than 22,300 seats. Of the 743 seats that remained vacant, 608 were in Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programmes and 135 in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programmes. A provincial breakdown shows that Punjab accounted for 381 vacant seats, followed by Sindh with 295, Islamabad with 50, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) with 17.
Affordability Crisis in Higher Education
The associations described the figures as deeply troubling and indicative of a widening affordability crisis in higher education. According to the teacher leaders, professional and higher education has become prohibitively expensive for a large segment of society, forcing many talented students to abandon academic ambitions. They further noted that a growing number of young people are choosing to seek employment opportunities abroad rather than pursue costly educational programmes at home, citing economic hardship and persistent inflation.
Concerns Over Out-of-School Children and Taxation
The organisations also voiced concern over the rising number of out-of-school children, claiming that the figure has reached nearly 30 million nationwide. They warned that any new taxation measures in the forthcoming federal and provincial budgets, particularly proposals to impose an 18 per cent tax on textbooks and stationery, could further discourage enrolment and place additional burdens on families. They cautioned that continued increases in educational costs could eventually leave schools, colleges, and universities struggling to attract and retain students.
Urgent Call for Government Action
The associations urged the government to take immediate steps to make education more affordable, emphasizing the need to reverse the trend of rising costs to ensure that talented students are not denied opportunities due to financial constraints.
