The students have strongly protested what they are calling an unprecedented increase in the semester fees. PHOTO: FILE
The fees at Government College for Women University Faisalabad (GCWUF) have been increased steeply since it was given the status of a university, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The GCWUF in Madina Town was granted charter as a university this year. It started operating as a university in August 2013.
But with the upgrade in status, the administration has revised its fee structure increasing the fees for BS (honours) from around Rs5,000 to Rs15,000 per semester.
The students have strongly protested what they are calling an unprecedented increase in the semester fees.
They are demanding that the university administration immediately withdraw the notification on fees.
Mahnoor, one of the protesting students, said that within three years of its launch, the university had raised the fees by 200 per cent.
She said, “The status upgrade should not mean a right to rip off parents.”
She said the high fees would discourage the poor among the students.
University Registrar Rashida Zafar told The Express Tribune that the university was operating under severe financial constraints. She said there was a dire need for improving the infrastructure. This was not possible without more funds, she added.
“The university has increased the fees only to cater to its requirements,” she said, adding that a committee had been formed with representation of students and teachers, before revising the fees structure.
“This committee devised a new fee structure based on present-day requirements keeping in view fee structures of other public sector women’s universities.”
Zafar said that deserving students who could not afford to pay the fees would be granted fee concession and full-tuition scholarships by the Higher Education Commission and the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2013.
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The bottom line is that system for paying fees should be changed and students should be given loans by private banks to pay the fees. Once the student gets the job, he or she can pay back the loans . There is no point in demonstrations and creating law and order problem.
In USA, 90% of students in colleges and universities take loans to pay their fees. These loans are given both by the govt and by the private sectors to the students. Student is responsible to pay back this loan. Parents are not responsible for this loan . What are the benefits? Every body wins. Students get the opportunity to get their degree. They do not go on strike because they are responsible for loan payment so they want the job to be done. No politics in the institution or minimal politics. Political parties loose. For banks, this is an opportunity to make money. Federal and state govt give money thru the banks and control the rate of interest to the students.