Admission season: Students dread long queues, warped banking facilities

Demand access to modern payment solutions to save time

ISLAMABAD: In today’s modern and fast paced world where payments can be made electronically from anywhere, students of public sector colleges still have to queue up for hours to pay their fees while missing out on their studies.

These queues at around 31 colleges both for boys and girls in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) are usually seen twice a year at designated National Bank kiosks set up at the colleges or at specific branches.

First, in the months of August and September, students line up to gain admission in academic programmes ranging from intermediate to Masters level.



The queues return in December and January when students file their forms for the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) and Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU).

Cashiers at these bank desks collect the fees from the students and then deposit the money, running into hundreds of thousands of rupees, in the bank.

Banking time warp

These queues are usually formed because National Bank of Pakistan, which is responsible for accepting payment for the corresponding forms, only allows students to deposit their fees at specific branches.

Further the bank is set on the tradition of only accepting printed forms along with bank paper challans issued against cash payments. Students are not afforded the facility of depositing the sum through online or alternative payment solutions.

Education department officials, say public sector institutions are bound to deal with National Bank. Dealing through any other private bank, the officials said, could raise objections during their audit.

A principal of an Islamabad-based college, who did not wish to be named, told The Express Tribune that while all private banks offer latest banking facilities allowing students to deposit fees at any of their branches without any additional cost, they were stuck with the old fashion method of collecting dues.

He pointed out that all private educational institutions have agreements with banks allowing students a number of means to deposit their fees.

A couple of colleges in the capital have managed to obtain special permission from the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to allow students to deposit their fees in a private bank.

Some other colleges have also sought permission from the education department to shift their banking away National Bank but have not received an answer yet.

Long wait

The queues are frustrating for the students, some of whom have to skip classes just to pay their fees.

“We have to skip classes to submit our fees which affects our studies” said Kamran who was seeking admission in first year at the H-8 Boys College. The queues are longest for those seeking admission into intermediate since the number of students applying after completing their matriculation is far higher than those seeking admission into undergraduate or post-graduate programmes.

Unruly lines

Managing long queues during fee-depositing hours is also a huge problem for college administration and sometimes even teachers have to be deployed to manage them.

“Queues remain one of the most common problems at colleges. Despite technological advances such as online banking, this particular issue of students has not been resolved,” remarked a lecturer at a girls’ college in G-10.

Way forward

NBP claimed that they offer all the latest banking facilities, including online and mobile banking to its customers.

Ali Zeb, the bank’s spokesperson, told The Express Tribune that while the bank has all available facilities, they have not been extended to educational institutions. However, he maintained that it could be a way forward and in this regard some educational institutions have already signed agreements with the bank to avail these services.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2016.