The business of private hostels in the capital

Limited residential accommodation in government educational institutions gives boost to private hostel business.

ISLAMABAD: Private hostel business for students is thriving in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as residential accommodation in government educational institutions is limited.

Students, particularly girls, who come here from smaller towns for studies in higher education institutions, have no other option but to take residence in these private hostels which have multiplied over the years to accommodate the increasing number of girl students.

As a result the hostel managements have turned it into a lucrative trade by charging exorbitant rates for board and lodging. But despite high rates complaints against service standard are common.

The great majority of needy students who take admission in public sector colleges and universities are unable to get admission in respective college hostels and have to face exploitation by the private hostel owners.

One major reason for influx of students from smaller towns is the lack of higher and better education facilities in their hometowns while government, particularly, the Federal Directorate of Education has been unable to meet the rising demand for hostel accommodation.

The Federal Boys College H-8, Government Postgraduate College for Girls F-7/2 and Islamabad College for Girls (ICG) are some of the institutions in the capital which offer hostel accommodation but only to a limited number as these hostels were built many years back according to demand of that period.

According to the administrator of the hostel in F-7/2 College for Women, Ms Jahan Ara, the college hostel has very limited seats for students and the college administration prefers to accommodate students from far off areas like Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Chitral and FATA.

The normal monthly charges in government hostels are Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 per month whereas private hostels charge Rs6,000 to Rs7,000 on average.

The security situation in private hostels is generally unsatisfactory and other facilities also leave much to be desired. Parents of girl students have been demanding from the educational authorities to build more hostels to save them from the exploitation of the private hostel owners.

Hasan Khan, a parent from Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told The Express Tribune that he had brought his daughter to Islamabad for admission, but now they were going back as in both the F-7/2 and ICG colleges he could not get hostel space for his daughter. He did not want his daughter to stay in an insecure private hostel with high charges.

“We cannot afford private hostels where fees are so high and the security arrangements are so inadequate,” he maintained.

Another man, Zakir Hussain, said that two of his sisters were hostel residents, one in F-7/2 college and the other in a private hostel in sector G-9/4.

He added that the charges of the F-7/2 hostel were only Rs2,500 with excellent facilities and good security whereas the private hostel charges were Rs7,000 per month with substandard services.

“There is no proper security arrangement and other facilities,” he said. He also charged that there were reports of anti-social activities like use of narcotics and alcohol particularly in boy hostels.

He asked the government to form a body to regulate the working of these hostels and keep strict check on them, which are minting money without giving proper service to their inmates.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2010.