Quota System in Pakistan

The quota system in Pakistan was established to give every region of the country representation in institutions according to their population. The Civil Service of Pakistan selects only 7.5% of the applicants by , education, qualification and experience. The quota system in Pakistan has many similarities with reservation in India which is its neighbor.

There is quota system in Pakistan in admission to universities and colleges where a certain number of places are reserved a priori to applicants who have completed their pre-university studies rural and undeveloped regions of the country. Candidates with low grades (marks or GPA) may qualify for admission to Medical college and Engineering college if they were from rural areas.

University of Karachi is the only public university serving nearly 20 million people in Karachi. According to the University of Karachi “Only a few students from rural Sindh are rejected”. The Government of Sindh has established many universities in smaller towns of Sindh but the standard of education is still not high. The medical college and engineering colleges in Karachi also have quotas that limit the qualified students while admitting the rural students with lower academic achievements.

In 2014, a notification issued by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) created a storm of controversy among the medical students of Pakistan. According to notification, 2014-15 admissions would be held on quota system rather than open merit i.e. 50% seats in medical colleges of Pakistan were reserved for girls and 50% for boys. But there was silence on the side of University of Health Sciences, Lahore so students could not guess whether quota system would be applied from 2014 or next year. However, few days before the issuance of UHS's first merit list , the notification was challenged in Lahore High Court. On October 29 , Lahore High Court took the decision that quota system was illegal, as it would be unfair for girls so 2014-15 admissions would be held on open merit.

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