Inflation hits college admission forms

Students applying to government colleges for Intermediate admissions are being forced to pay more and more on forms.


Ppi October 24, 2010

KARACHI: Students applying to government colleges for Intermediate admissions are being forced to pay more and more on forms, affidavits and other documents.

Muhammad Wali, a student of Sindh Muslim Arts and Commerce College, said that the admission form and the affidavit are being sold for Rs90, even though the government fixed the price at Rs25.

Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association general-secretary Prof Iftikhar Aazmi said that the director-general for colleges should take action against such malpractices. “It is a matter of concern when students are charged beyond the approved rate,” he added.

In Prof Aazmi’s views, the condition of submitting an affidavit at the time of admission should be withdrawn altogether.

A student of Aisha Bawany College, who requested anonymity, said that admission forms are not available in the college’s administrative block. In fact, they are sold at the stalls run by the student wings of main ruling parties.

The rate fixed by the government is hardly being followed by any college in the city, said SM Arts and Commerce College head for the evening section, Naseem Shaikh, adding that the orders of the director-general are ineffective and it is difficult to implement them in the given situation.

Shaikh gave an example of his daughter, who purchased her admission form for Rs150 from a government college in Korangi.

For his part, the director-general of colleges, Dr Nasir, agreed that students have complaints about the admission forms but he insisted that they are taking action. Government colleges are not allowed to charge for anything else except admission forms and brochures, he added.

Lack of free textbooks

The Sindh government has also failed to fulfil its promise of providing free text books to Intermediate students. There are some colleges that are providing some books, but most colleges do not have all of them.

Wali, a student, said that mostly newcomers in the Intermediate classes have failed to receive the complete course. Whenever students raise the issue, the administration replies that they have not received complete books from the government so they cannot deliver, he added.

On the other hand, Prof Aazmi believed that this facility is useless. Students often purchase the Intermediate First Year course right after their Matric exams so giving them free books later on does not make sense, he explained.

He blamed the Sindh education minister and other policymakers of making inefficient policies because they fail to understand the needs of the students, teachers and parents.

Textbooks are short in some colleges because they received them based on the number of students enrolled last year, said the director-general for colleges. He promised to make sure that all colleges receive books according to the number of students admitted.

Dr Nasir appealed to the media to indicate which colleges are involved in selling overpriced admission forms. As far as student organisations are concerned, the director-general’s office does not have control over it, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2010.

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