DADU: Sindh University administration has passed on burden of its financial liabilities and debts to thousands of students by drastically raising fees for various services by 45pc within a short span of seven months.

The university also increased the admission fees of M.Phil and Ph.D in various disciplines by 59pc and 42pc, respectively, for the academic year 2023, thus virtually keeping the doctorate studies out of the reach of poor students.

The administration increased fees for degrees, transcripts, date of declaration of results certificate, pass certificates, marks-sheets and other documents by 45pc — after raising the same by 30pc on January 3, 2023 and 40pc to 400pc over the past two years —, said a notification issued by the university’s registrar.

The decision would not only affect the university’s own students but also a large number of pupils enrolled in public and private colleges affiliated with the university. The record increase in a short period of just seven months had been made by vice-chancellor Dr Muhammad Siddique Kalhoro without seeking necessary recommendation of the academic council while the notification had been issued without approval of the syndicate, said sources.

The notification said the increase in fees had been made effective from July 7. The fees for the issuance of certain documents, which were earlier a few hundred rupees, had risen threefold whereas the fee that was previously within four-digit figures had now upped to five figures, resulting in a jump of several thousand rupees and unbearable burden on students, said the sources.

According to breakup, the fees for pass certificates have jumped from Rs650 to Rs1,000 and marks certificates from Rs650 to Rs800. Similarly, the fees for the issuance of transcripts have increased from Rs1,250 to Rs2,000, appearance certificates from Rs1,600 to Rs1,900 and medium of instruction certificates from Rs800 to Rs2,000.

The fee for date of declaration of results certificate has been raised from Rs500 to Rs600, while convocation and gap certificate fees have been increased to Rs3,900 and Rs2,000 from Rs3,250 and Rs1,600, respectively.

Moreover, the fee for the issuance of degree has been raised from Rs4,900 to Rs5,900 and that for duplicate degree from Rs9,750 to Rs11,700, while fees for B.Ed. and M.Ed. degrees have been hiked from Rs5,709 to Rs6,850, and B.Ed., M.Ed. duplicate degree issuance charges from Rs9,750 to Rs11,700.

The fee for degrees of M.Phil, M.S have been increased from Rs11,400 to Rs13,700 and the fee for Ph.D has been raised from Rs16,250 to Rs19,500. The fees for M.Phil/M.S and Ph.D duplicate degree certificates have jumped to Rs35,000 and Rs20,000 from Rs25,000 and Rs18,000, respectively.

In addition, fees for re-totaling of marks, change of centre and correction of name have also been raised to Rs2,000, Rs19,500 and Rs6,000, from Rs16,00, Rs16,250 and Rs5,000, respectively.

Likewise, fees for the issuance of MBBS degree and its duplicate have also been hiked to Rs11,700 and Rs15,600 from Rs9,750 and Rs13,000, respectively, while the fee for various other documents have also been raised manifold.

On the other hand, the total fee for two years M.Phil degree program in different disciplines have been increased from Rs149,000 to Rs250,000, while the total fee for three-year Ph.D degree program have been raised from Rs249,000 to Rs582,000.

According to the sources privy to the University’s Directorate of Research & Graduate Studies, many candidates for Ph.D could not seek admissions as they could not arrange Rs194,000 fee for the first year.

Justifying the sudden fee hike without approval of the syndicate, the university’s spokesman Nadir Ali Mugheri said the fee had been increased to meet expenses of paper, printing and transportation.

He insisted the increase was slight, which would not affect students studying on the campus. The students or alumni got the certificates and special degrees once in lifetime, consequently it would not put any financial burden on their pockets, he remarked.

He claimed that even after the recent fee rise, the university’s fee structure was still much lower than that of other higher academic institutions like the University of Karachi, Shah Abdul Latif University and Hyderabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2023