An explanatory statement from “Higher Education” regarding the aptitude test for the specializations of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy in Gaza

Ramallah - Ofoq News - The Ministry of Education and Higher Education issued a clarification statement regarding the aptitude test for students wishing to enroll in the specializations of human medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy in higher education institutions in the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry confirmed that the non-acceptance of some students is not related to judging their abilities or potential, but rather is due to the limited number of seats compared to the large number of applicants, as the number of applicants reached approximately 6,000 students, compared to specific numbers that the programs can accommodate according to quality requirements.

The Ministry explained that a joint committee was formed from the Ministry and the four universities to supervise the various stages of the process, starting with preparing and implementing the test, and ending with extracting the results and ranking the students.

She explained that the first stage of the exam was carried out for about 4,000 students.

The Ministry said, "Given the exceptional circumstances that accompanied the exam, especially the power and Internet outages and the inability of a number of students to access the exam halls, an additional session was organized for students who were unable to take the first session, in order to ensure equal opportunities and not bear the responsibility of students for the consequences of circumstances beyond their control."

She also confirmed that the students were arranged according to the approved equation that combines the results of the high school and the results of the aptitude test, and the students with the highest averages were accepted according to the numbers allowed by the absorptive capacity of the programs, and the number of those accepted at the current stage reached about 1,500 students.

She explained that the accepted students were distributed among the eight programs in the four universities according to the specific capacity of each program, taking into account the universities’ ability to provide the academic, training, clinical and laboratory requirements necessary to ensure the quality of education.

She said, "Given the exceptional circumstances that students in the Gaza Strip are experiencing, and the inability of many of them to leave the Strip to join other universities, admission numbers have been increased by 20% above the basic capacity of the programs, taking into account these exceptional humanitarian and educational circumstances."

The number of students who actually enroll in the programs will also be monitored. In the event that the courses are not completed and do not reach the maximum permissible limit, a new batch of students will be accepted today in the various programs according to the available capacity, and according to the data received from the universities.

She added that an additional increase of up to 10% for each program will also be considered to accommodate other numbers of students whose current circumstances have prevented them from leaving the sector.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education indicated that organizing the aptitude test and the admission mechanism came with the aim of achieving justice and equal opportunities, maintaining the quality of education, and committing to the actual absorptive capacity of the programs, taking into account the exceptional circumstances that students in the Gaza Strip are going through.