Students start to apply to different universities and institutions across the country for their graduation. Every institute has its own admission rules which parents have to follow. Most of these institutions conduct tests or interviews in different months till they finalize the list. The LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences) is one such prestigious institution, whose graduates start to get job offer letters in the final year from famous and influential organizations of the country, with a better salary package, compared to the graduates of other institutions. The LUMS conducts its tests in February and the students get admission letters in April and May and they have to pay the admission and semester fee and all other dues in advance immediately.
The results, especially of A Level are announced in August and the session in LUMS starts around the end of August or early September. But LUMS draws the fee from aspiring students' parents nearly three to four months before the actual academic session begins, which I feel is very unfair and unjustified - especially for parents who have to arrange this large amount so many months in advance. But there are other similar good institutions, e.g., IBA (Institute of Business Administration), Karachi which is although a government institution still has a very fair and adequate admission policy in which they conduct the entrance test in June or July and ask the successful students to deposit the fee in August and their session also starts around early September.
LUMS is a private institution which has a very different admission policy which is very tough on parents. The fact that taking the fee three to four months in advance provides LUMS with a handsome amount that can earn a huge profit, if they have a savings account, seems like a scheme to earn more money. Being a parent, seeking better future for my children, I would like to request all the concerned departments to regulate the fee payment policy of all the institutions in the country, so that the guardians and parents are not burden unduly.
A CONCERNED CITIZEN,
Karachi, April 26.