At a time when the whole world is gripped with a crisis, this sudden unanticipated fee hike is unfair on the students
LAHORE: Recently a private not-for-profit university in Lahore announced some changes to its fee structure which would increase the student’s tuition fee by as much as 41%. Previously, the university had a policy of charging the students who had taken a total of 12 to 20 credit hours per semester with the same fee. This was much more suitable for students, especially for those who were pursuing a minor along with their major degree. Now, the university has decided to remove the blanket fee structure and has instead changed it to a per credit hour basis. This means that students who will now take 20 credit hours in a semester will have to pay 41% more than the original fee. Moreover, the university also mints money from engineering students under the guise of “lab charges”. Undergraduate students who are pursuing a degree such as Mathematics do not require labs at all, yet they are forced to pay the lab charges. At a time when the whole world is gripped with a biological crisis, this sudden unanticipated fee hike is unfair on the students, especially in a country like Pakistan where the middle-class faces such uncertainty due to the fragile economy.
This is not just the issue of one specific university. Private universities all over the country don’t have to go through any form of scrutiny or regulation when it comes to charging the students with ridiculously high fee. It is about time that the government, especially the HEC, and the Supreme Court took notice of this.
Muneeb Faisal
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2020.
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