Federal Minister Education Shafqat Mahmood has taken notice of the Lahore University of Management Science's (LUMS) announcement to increase the tuition fee by 40 per cent amid the coronavirus crisis. He said that he had seen reports circulating and if LUMS has increased its fee, it was 'unacceptable' in these times. He also said that LUMS was a premier educational institution and should be giving the students relief instead of burdening them.
https://twitter.com/Shafqat_Mahmood/status/1258675131322372096?s=20
Earlier, the university had announced on their Twitter account that the fee hike was decided before the pandemic hit, and has been consistent with prior years and 'took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs and currency devaluation'.
The statement explained that previously, a per semester blanket fee was being charged for students taking between 12 to 20 credit hours and that this fee is now calculated on a per credit hour basis "which will increase the semester fees for some and decrease it for others".
https://twitter.com/LifeAtLUMS/status/1257587990597177344?s=20
https://twitter.com/bilaln97/status/1257018809287954433?s=20
LUMS faculty also took to Twitter to protest alongside students who had been trying to make the management understand how important was a reverse in the fee hike. Dr Nida Kirmani, Associate Professor of Sociology at LUMS, tweeted that "Universities cannot make students whose families are already struggling pay for the financial losses they may be facing."
https://twitter.com/nidkirm/status/1257564380943855621?s=20
https://twitter.com/ammaralijan/status/1257333118014537733?s=20
https://twitter.com/Shafqat_Mahmood/status/1258675131322372096?s=20
Earlier, the university had announced on their Twitter account that the fee hike was decided before the pandemic hit, and has been consistent with prior years and 'took into account extraordinary increases in inflation, energy costs and currency devaluation'.
The statement explained that previously, a per semester blanket fee was being charged for students taking between 12 to 20 credit hours and that this fee is now calculated on a per credit hour basis "which will increase the semester fees for some and decrease it for others".
https://twitter.com/LifeAtLUMS/status/1257587990597177344?s=20
https://twitter.com/bilaln97/status/1257018809287954433?s=20
LUMS faculty also took to Twitter to protest alongside students who had been trying to make the management understand how important was a reverse in the fee hike. Dr Nida Kirmani, Associate Professor of Sociology at LUMS, tweeted that "Universities cannot make students whose families are already struggling pay for the financial losses they may be facing."
https://twitter.com/nidkirm/status/1257564380943855621?s=20
https://twitter.com/ammaralijan/status/1257333118014537733?s=20