A sudden 41% increase in tuition fees by the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is beyond comprehension and management needs to revise it, says Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood.
LUMS is a premier educational institution of the country and its management needs to take lead to give relief to students rather than burdening them and their parents even further, the minister said.
Mahmood suggested that the decision needs revision and reconsideration. The varsity issued a statement on its official Twitter account stating that the fees for 2020 were determined before COVID-19.
“The fees are entirely consistent with prior years and took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs, and currency devaluation,” the statement read.
According to the varsity, the increase determined for the year was 13%. “Previously a semester blanket fee was charged for students taking between 12 to 20 credit hours courses,” it said pointing that the fees will now be charged on a “per credit hour basis”.
Following the announcement, students took to Twitter to condemn the fee hike and called out the institution. They called the increase “unfair” especially when the country was hit by a pandemic.
Hiking fees in the middle of a degree is like unilaterally changing a contract and demanding more money than was agreed.
“There needs to be a law forbidding any fee hike that was not initiated at the time of admission,” it added.
Some even stressed that this proved the need for students’ unions in the country.