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Islamabad: Students affected by the Cambridge examination paper leak controversy have announced a protest outside the IBCC office Islamabad on Wednesday, August 12, saying they have been left with no option but to take their fight to the streets after a key meeting meant to discuss their evidence was postponed until after the results. The protest has been called by Accountability4Cambridge, a student led movement campaigning over alleged leaks of Cambridge O Level and A Level examination papers during the June 2026 examination series. They said they had spent months collecting evidence, meeting government bodies and trying to get action before the results, but claimed their main meeting was postponed at the last stage. It said the meeting was important because students planned to present findings and evidence connected with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency investigation. According to Accountability4Cambridge, it had already met officials including representatives of the IBCC and the British Council, but the latest meeting was postponed without a clear reason. The group said Cambridge officials had also pulled out of an important meeting shortly before the results, ending what students described as their last major chance to settle the matter before grades were announced. The students have now called for what they describe as a peaceful demonstration outside the IBCC office. The group said students had waited long enough and wanted Cambridge, IBCC and other institutions to understand that the voices of students could not simply be ignored. The protest call comes as new forensic findings from the NCCIA add another layer to the controversy. A July 31 report from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency examined digital evidence submitted in connection with 13 disputed Cambridge examination components. The NCCIA forensic laboratory examined 24 files stored on a USB drive. According to the report, investigators found no evidence of artificial video editing, splicing, frame addition or cropping in the 24 files they examined. However, the findings did not establish who originally leaked the examination papers. NCCIA said the videos had been shared through social media services including WhatsApp, Discord, Reddit and Telegram. Because the videos were shared through social media services, including WhatsApp, Discord, Reddit, and Telegram, important information about the original recording devices was removed. This meant investigators could not confirm the make, model or serial number of the phones or devices that first created the Leaks. The agency also said the exact recording times could not be confirmed from the media files alone. To establish those details, investigators would need physical access to the original devices. This is an important part of the case because the students say the evidence that examination material was circulating before papers were officially held. The NCCIA report confirmed that the files showed no signs of artificial manipulation, but it also made clear that the digital evidence alone could not legally identify the original person responsible for the leaks. The agency found what it called double encoding in material linked to Chemistry A Level 9701/21 and IGCSE Physics. Simply put, investigators found signs that some material had been recorded from another screen before being shared again. The agency stated this indicated the circulating videos were secondary recordings rather than recordings made directly at the alleged leak’s original source. NCCIA also found foreign time zone information and other indicators in some Physics and Sociology material. The report suggested this could indicate that some material first appeared outside Pakistan before being shared online. However, the agency did not identify the final source of the leak. It said physical seizure and examination of the original recording devices would be necessary to meet the level of evidence required for prosecution or disciplinary action. Accountability4Cambridge has presented the forensic report as an important development in its campaign. The group says the findings support its position that the submitted leaks were genuine rather than artificially created or edited. At the same time, the NCCIA itself stopped short of confirming when the material was originally recorded, who recorded it or who first leaked the examination papers. The protest is also linked to anger over Cambridge’s handling of Mathematics A Level S1, also referred to as Paper 5 of syllabus 9709. According to material shared by campaigners, Cambridge had earlier said the paper had been exposed prematurely and that assessed grades would be used. However, students and teachers later criticised a reported decision to mark candidates’ original scripts instead. Critics argued that even if leaked material reached only a limited number of students, those students could still gain an unfair advantage over candidates who sat the paper honestly. They said a leak does not become harmless simply because the material may not have reached thousands of students. Students fear that those who saw the questions early could score unusually high marks, which could affect grading and disadvantage honest candidates. The controversy has caused particular concern because Cambridge results can affect university admissions, scholarships and future education plans in Pakistan and abroad. Some campaigners also criticised schools and colleges for not speaking strongly enough when the alleged leaks were first being reported. They argued that major schools have direct communication channels with Cambridge and should have raised the issue much earlier on behalf of their students. Critics said statements issued only a few days before results would not solve the problem. They also demanded guarantees that similar incidents would not happen again when students entering A Level or moving from AS to A2 sit their examinations next year. The controversy has also started a wider discussion over whether students in Pakistan should continue depending so heavily on Cambridge examinations. Accountability4Cambridge says its main aim is not hostility towards Cambridge. The movement wants transparency, accountability, fair treatment and compensation for affected students. The group says it has approached senators, parliamentary committees, education authorities and other stakeholders to keep the issue alive. The latest protest call follows months of complaints over the June 2026 examination series. Accountability4Cambridge says the August 12 protest is intended to increase pressure before its

Islamabad: A heated parliamentary debate over private medical college fees has exposed a conflict between the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and members of the National Health Services Standing Committee. Lawmakers questioned why students are being asked to pay millions of rupees for medical education while some colleges seeking fee increases allegedly have incomplete documents and audit reports. The controversy became more serious when Member Aliya Kamran questioned the approval of higher fees for colleges whose facilities and records were allegedly not good enough to justify such increases. She specifically referred to Rawal Institute of Health Sciences and claimed that photographs showed standing water in classrooms and students unable to attend classes because of poor infrastructure. She questioned how such an institution could qualify for a fee increase and said colleges with poor standards should face action rather than receive permission to charge more. The debate also revealed a major disagreement over whether high fees are responsible for vacant seats in private medical and dental colleges. One PMDC official argued that fees alone cannot explain the vacant seats, pointing out that some colleges charging Rs3.5 million have no vacant seats. The official said students also consider the quality of education, facilities and the reputation of institutions before choosing a college. But the Vice Chancellor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University presented a very different picture. He told the committee that around 8,000 students who passed the Medical and Dental College Admission Test did not take admission because they could not afford the fees. He said many of these students could have joined if more public sector seats had been available. The disagreement over fees comes as the committee is examining a fee range of Rs1.8 million to Rs2.5 million for private medical colleges. According to the PMDC briefing, 61 colleges applied for permission to charge more than the Rs1.8 million baseline. After checking their balance sheets, third party audit reports, specifications and inspection reports, only 35 were declared eligible for fee enhancement. However, eligibility did not mean that all 35 colleges were allowed to charge Rs2.5 million. Some were allowed to charge Rs1.9 million, Rs1.95 million or Rs2 million. The issue of quality also came under strong criticism. Aliya Kamran questioned the argument that better quality should automatically allow a college to charge higher fees. She warned that allowing some institutions to charge Rs2.5 million while keeping others at Rs1.8 million could create the impression that students studying at lower fee colleges belong to inferior institutions. Minister for National Health Syed Mustufa Kamal defended the fee difference by saying that institutions have different facilities and levels of exposure. He cited Aga Khan, which was described as charging Rs3.5 million, and Ziauddin, which was described as charging Rs2 million. He said some colleges hire professors from abroad and provide additional practical training; their audited accounts are used to show their higher operating costs. The debate then turned into a bigger question: should medical education be treated as a business or as a social service? Member Gul Asghar Khan openly argued that medical education is a business and that private investors put money into medical colleges because they expect a return. He warned that imposing strict fee controls could force private colleges to close. He claimed that a major audit could show the actual cost of educating one medical student is more than Rs4 million a year in the public sector. Another member rejected this argument, pointing out that government medical institutions may spend much more on a student while charging students only around Rs5,000 to Rs50,000 in fees. The member said private medical college fees ranging from Rs1.8 million to Rs2.5 million are simply beyond the reach of ordinary families. The committee also heard that medical education fees have increased sharply over the years. A university vice chancellor said the cost per student at a public medical college had earlier been estimated at around Rs750,000 to Rs800,000. An audit conducted after Justice Saqib Nisar sought data had put the private college figure at around Rs900,000, but the fee later increased to Rs1.8 million. The vice chancellor said the higher fee is beyond the ability of most students to pay and stressed that fees are a major factor behind the problem. Another member said medical college fees had earlier been around Rs640,000 before increasing to Rs900,000 and then suddenly reaching Rs1.8 million. The member argued that colleges struggling to fill seats should reduce fees to Rs1.5 million or even Rs1 million rather than leave seats empty. The BDS programme also came under discussion. Officials said the programme is being increased from four years to five years to meet international recognition requirements. This means students will have to pay for an additional year. Officials warned that students already struggling to pay around Rs10 million for four years could face another Rs2.5 million burden for the fifth year, potentially leading to even more vacant seats. The committee was also told about serious questions regarding documentation submitted by colleges seeking fee increases. Aliya Kamran pointed out that Peshawar Medical, Sahara, Liaquat National and Rawal were among colleges whose documents were allegedly incomplete in the list provided to the committee. She questioned how colleges could be included in the fee enhancement process when some did not have audit reports. The PMDC official responded that audit reports had not been demanded from colleges in the past. According to the official, PMDC started demanding third party audit reports after the January 2023 Act. The official said colleges that failed to provide the required documents were rejected, while the 35 colleges approved for fee enhancement had submitted third party audits. The chairman of the committee, Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, said the committee had already decided that medical colleges should generally charge between Rs1.8 million and Rs2.5 million and had sought lists of colleges charging higher fees. Complaints had been received that some colleges were charging more than what their standards justified. The discussion also highlighted a major difference between high

GUJRAT: The District Health Authority (DHA) has shut down the medical store of the Patients’ Welfare Association at Jalalpur Jattan Civil Hospital following the recent visit of Punjab Secretary for Health and Population Nadia Saqib, a move that has drawn concern from patients, civil society representatives and local residents. The medical store, which had been providing medicines to poor and needy patients on a welfare basis, was closed after Secretary Nadia Saqib’s visit to Gujrat last week. Medical stores at THQ hospitals in Kharian and Kunjah were also closed following the health secretary’s directions, according to official sources. The Health Department’s position is that medicines should not be distributed without a Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL) report. Officials said the Jalalpur Jattan store was sealed because the medicines available there did not have the required DTL reports. They maintained that the department could not allow medicines to be provided to patients without ensuring their quality through the prescribed testing process. However, the closure of the patients’ welfare association’s medical store has raised concerns among local residents, particularly because the association had been supplementing the medicines officially provided by the hospital and helping poor patients who could not afford medicines from private pharmacies. Sources said the official medicine budget of Jalalpur Jattan Civil Hospital was already very low, even when compared with hospitals functioning at the THQ level. Local authorities had therefore engaged civil society and philanthropists to supplement the officially provided medicines and facilitate poor and needy patients. The development has also triggered protests by civil society representatives, who have demanded immediate attention to the shortage of medicines and other healthcare facilities at the hospital, particularly now that the welfare pharmacy is no longer operational. Representatives of the Patients’ Welfare Association have also urged Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to take notice of the situation and ensure the establishment of a proper THQ hospital at Jalalpur Jattan, permission for the resumption of medicine provision through appropriate channels, and an increase in the hospital’s medicine budget. The association’s representatives have also criticised the frequent changes of medical superintendents at Jalalpur Jattan Civil Hospital and demanded more medical officers and other staff to improve healthcare services. Jalalpur Jattan was upgraded as a tehsil headquarters by former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in 2022. Despite being the second major urban centre of Gujrat district, the tehsil has yet to get a THQ-level hospital for its population of around 700,000, according to local sources. The issue has become particularly sensitive for residents because the Patients’ Welfare Association had emerged as an important support system for poor patients seeking treatment at the civil hospital. While the Health Department insists that medicines must undergo the required testing process before being distributed, local residents argue that the closure has further reduced an already limited source of medicines for needy patients. The situation has now put the spotlight on both the quality-control requirements for medicines and the broader shortage of healthcare resources at Jalalpur Jattan Civil Hospital.