Private colleges: LHC seeks replies on high fees

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought replies from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the federal and provincial governments on a petition challenging the “exorbitant fee structure” of private medical colleges. The petitioner, Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, submitted that private medical colleges were charging up to Rs600,000 per year, putting it out of the reach of poor students, who had a constitutional right to get an education. He said that the PMDC must explain why it had allowed the private colleges to set such high fees. He said an LHC division bench had in 2011 directed the PMDC to introduce a fee structure in the private colleges so that bright but poor students could still be accommodated. The petitioner asked the court to take action the private colleges and the PMDC. The court sought replies from the respondents and adjourned till the third week of November.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.