The MBBS entrance test that was cancelled following a Supreme Court interim order last week is set to resume on Friday after the court denied continuation of the order.

The students, who are protesting against the government calling for the implementation of National Medical Education Act, had moved the court demanding that the test be halted until government assured a common entrance examination and 75 percent scholarship in the state-funded medical colleges.

“The entrance test that was supposed to be held starting on September 7 will commence from September 19 (Friday),” reads a notice by the Institute of Medicine issued on Tuesday. Students willing to get enrolled for the MBBS course in medical colleges under the university must pass the test.

The students have been resorting to demonstration and padlocking at the Institute of Medicine under Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences demanding implementation of the Act, which envisions a common entrance test for all the universities and 75 percent scholarship in the state-run medical colleges. The Act also requires private medical colleges to run with domestic resources to provide 10 percent scholarships and 20 percent by those run with foreign investment.

The government, however, is saying the provisions will be implemented once the National Medical Council starts functioning. The Act was formulated in line with the agreements reached with Dr Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon who has staged hunger strikes several times calling for an end to malpractices in the country’s medical education sector.