Rising costs shut out marginalised students

Thousands of students across the Rawalpindi Division have been denied admission to leading government colleges despite having passed their matriculation examinations with first, second, or third division, due to increasingly high merit thresholds.

At the same time, the cost of academic essentials for first-year students, including subject textbooks, notebooks, registers, practical notebooks, and general stationery, has risen sharply. Uniform prices have also soared, making even the purchase of a prospectus unaffordable for many underprivileged students.

A large number of students unable to get admission to prominent public colleges have turned to private institutions, where admission fees have also seen a significant hike. The cost of textbooks for first-year students in the General Arts, Commerce, and Science streams now ranges between Rs1,000 and Rs2,500, while practical notebooks are being sold for as much as Rs4,000 to Rs6,000.

Government schools have introduced a separate charge for the dupatta (scarf) as part of the girls' uniform. Admission fees in government schools now range from Rs10,000 to Rs15,000, while private colleges are charging between Rs15,000 and Rs30,000, exclusive of the costs of textbooks, uniforms, school bags, and shoes.

The overall expense of enrolling a child in the first year — including admission, books, stationery, and uniform — is currently between Rs35,000 and Rs50,000, placing immense financial pressure on parents.

Each college operates with its own uniform requirements, fee structure, and academic system, further complicating the situation and compounding the burden on families. With the continual rise in the cost of educational materials and fees, access to college education is gradually slipping out of reach for the lower and middle-income classes.

As a direct consequence, it is estimated that 60% of students who passed matriculation this year may be unable to continue into college education, with girls being disproportionately affected. Increasingly, students are opting for private technical colleges offering diploma programmes as an alternative pathway.

Leaders of the Professors and Lecturers Association, including Professor Iqbal and Basharat Raja, have strongly condemned the situation. They argue that following the privatisation of schools, colleges are now being positioned for a similar fate - a move they believe is contributing to the systematic dismantling of the public education system.