Up in arms: QAU students outraged over fee hike, lack of facilities

Over 400 students protested against varsity’s vice-chancellor

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of students blocked their campus on Tuesday, in protest against a fee hike, poor hostel accommodation, the closure of programmes and departments, and certain decisions of the varsity’s vice-chancellor.

As many as 400 students of Quaid-i-Azam University protested over several issues they claim they have reported to the VC Javed Ashraf but to no avail, and are therefore boycotting classes.

Initially, the students gathered outside the administration block for one hour and chanted slogans against Ashraf, demanded “justice”.

“This year, the management has increased the fee from 15 per cent to 35 per cent, violating Higher Education Commission rules [which stipulate an] annual increase of 10 per cent,” said Hanan Durrani, a student from the physics department.

Students from several departments slowly gathered outside the block and chanted slogans and held banners voicing their concerns over the “stubborn attitude” of the VC.

Hafeezullah, a self-finance student of LLB, said he submitted Rs92,000, whereas students of the previous batch paid Rs55,000 for the same courses. “The management is crazy, and should fulfil their appetite with money from other sources,” he added curtly.

Ikram Ashraf, a student from the mathematics department, said it was not a private sector varsity, and was thus “robbing” students in light of fees mentioned in the university’s prospectus.

The varsity launched a news release with approval of the VC, stating that fees had been raised from between 15 to 22 per cent across all departments, and by 20 per cent in four specified departments.

Similarly, it added that although it was a nominal routine increase in fees, the VC had directed the fee structure body to revisit the matter. Whereas sources privy to the development said there was no plan to revise the fee issue, rather to simply placate the protestors.

Later, the students rallied towards the bus stop and chanted slogans and made speeches. Meanwhile, the entry and exit points of the varsity were blocked by some students, halting traffic.

Kiran Jamali, from Deral Murad Jamali in Balochistan, said that for the last one month, they were using cold water. She also said that five meetings with management regarding fee and hostel issues bore no fruit, despite a hostel fee of Rs5,000 per month.

In the evening, the VC addressed the students and said he would look into the gas and electricity issues and related problems with the management. Regarding the fee hike, he repeated the same stance, prompting students to chant slogans against him, and forcing him to leave the venue.

The students gathered in the evening and vowed assemble again until their demands are met.

Since the arrival of the new vice-chancellor in October last year, his decisions have faced witnessed several criticisms from management.

First, it was selling varsity land to Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, which saw strong opposition from employees and faculty. Last month, students of the linguistics department protested against their merger with English department. Since his arrival, management has yet to hold a departmental promotion committee for staffers, while the VC’s decision to end payment of overtime allowances has also incensed many on campus.

The removal of Dr Aliya Khan as dean social sciences also invited the ire of various facilities, as well as the removal of Dr Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, additional in-charge of National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, for his speech at a University of Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2015.