Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a special committee to examine the state of public and private medical colleges in the country as hundreds of medical students returned to Pakistan after a violent mob attacked international students in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek.

Sources within the government told Aaj News that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar would lead the committee as the chairman.

Earlier in the day, Dar mentioned the formation of the committee while responding to a query about what arrangements the government has made for the students who have returned to Pakistan.

“The Higher Education Commission does not recognize the medical certificates [students] obtain from abroad,” he said while acknowledging that their medical future was already in question

“PM Shehbaz has already constituted a committee under my watch to figure out the solution for this issue, so we can figure out how to incentivize students wanting to go abroad and pursue medicine to study in Pakistani medical universities so that they don’t struggle with degree recognition with the HEC later on,” Dar said.

The “high-level” committee comprises

1. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Convener

2. Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema

3. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar

4. PM’s Coordinator on Health Dr Malil Mukhtar Ahmed

5. PPP MNA Dr Nafisa Shah

6. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan

7. Cardiologist Major General (retd) Dr Azhar Kiyani

8. Foreign Affairs Ministry special secretary

9. Federal health secretary

10. Higher Education Commission chairman

11. Pakistan Medical and Dental Council President Dr Rizwan Taj

12. College of Physicians and Surgeons Vice President Prof Dr Khalid Masood Gondal

13. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor Prof Tariq Iqbal

14. Secretaries for provincial HEC departments

15. Secretaries for provincial health departments

16. Khyber Medical College, Peshawar Dean Dr Mahmood Aurangzeb

17. Dow University of Health Sciences VC Professor Dr Mohammad Saeed Qureshi

18. King Edward Medical University, Lahore VC Dr Mehmood Ayyaz

19. General surgeon Dr Mian Tahir Shah

20. Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University VC Professor Dr M Iqbal Khan

21. University of Health Sciences, Lahore VC Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathore

22. Aga Khan Medical University, Karachi Dean Dr Adil Hussain

23. Rehman College of Dentistry, Islamabad Prof Dr Ghulam Rasool

24. Bolan Medical College, Quetta Prof Raz Muhammad Kakar

25. Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination director general (health)

Pakistani students from Kyrgyzstan started returning to the country on May 18 after a violent mob attacked international students following clashes between two groups. The first commercial flight brought back at least 140 students back home.

More than 3,000 students have returned to Pakistan from Kyrgyzstan, Dar told reporters. He said that the total number was expected to exceed 4,000 by midnight.

According to the terms of reference, the committee would examine the demand-supply gap of medical education in the country and recommend an “action plan” to fill the gap.

It would also review the standard of recognition of private sector’s medical colleges to ensure quality education.

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“To review the phenomenon of students getting admission in unrecognised foreign institutions and propose policy options,” it said.

It would suggest measures to improve existing regulatory framework if so, required, and establish a coordination framework between public and private sectors, and medical institutions to ensure uniform quality of education.

The committee would submit its report within 10 days on the state of medical education in the country to the prime minister through the health ministry.