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Students & rising education costs
Students perturbed over rising education costs
Lahore, June 24, 2008: The education sector is no exception to being affected by the
unprecedented inflation as public sector universities have started increasing
tuition fee and other charges.
In a recent meeting, the Government
College University syndicate approved an increase in tuition fee of all the
programmes for the upcoming academic session. It is learnt that all the
newcomers will have to pay around 12 percent extra tuition fee.
Sources
say, initially, the proposal floated in the meeting aimed at increasing the
tuition fee for all the programmes by 15 percent, but there was a consensus on
12 percent increase. A senior GCU official said the varsity
had not increased the tuition fee during the last four years, adding the
insurmountable inflation was the main cause behind the increase.
A
series of protests were held at the Kinnaird College (KC) recently when the
college authorities started charging fee according to the revised fee structure.
Though, the fee of all the programmes had been increased, the increase in the
fee of the college's BBA programme was so high as the college students had to
protest against the decision.
The Punjab University's Finance and
Planning Committee decided to enhance the examination and registration fee by 15
per cent in a meeting held last week. Reportedly, the PU administration has not
increased tuition and admission fee for the on-campus, regular students and the
decision, subject to the approval of the syndicate, would apply only to the
private students.
It may be mentioned here that thousands of students
appear in BA/BSc, MA/MSc and other examinations conducted by the Punjab
University every year. At present, the PU is charging Rs 1200 as registration
fee while the examination fee varies from programme to programme.
The
exam fee for BA is Rs 1700, for BSc Rs 2100, for MA Part-I and Part-II Rs 2025
each and for MSc Part-I and Part-II Rs 2225 each. Double fees are also charged
if a candidate fails to deposit his/her dues for registration and exams before
the deadline.
A large number of students and their
parents expressed concern over the increasing fees of the public sector
institutions, saying the government must intervene to provide relief to the
inflation-stricken poor.
Azeem, a student, said the PU was already
collecting a handsome amount through registration and exam fees, adding the
recent increase, if approved by the varsity's syndicate, would add to the
miseries of the students.
Zaheer Ahmed, the father of a student, said
the government was providing support of million of rupees to the public sector
universities, adding it must ensure check on the fee structure as
well.
However, a senior PU official said the decision to increase the
exam and registration fees was taken out of necessity, adding the increasing
inflation was the main cause behind the increase. "The prices of paper have
increased while the transportation has also become costly", he said, adding "the
remuneration for those involved in script marking would also be
increased."
The official said grants for the public sector universities
had also been reduced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). "In such
circumstance it was impossible to maintain the registration and exam fee
structure", he added. The News
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