Students’ fee, hostel problems to be solved, says governor

LAHORE:Punjab Governor/Chancellor Muhammad Balighur Rehman presided over a meeting at Governor’s House here regarding the issue of payment of fees of Baloch students studying in the universities in the Punjab province.

Federal Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hasan Baloch (via video link), Federal Secretary Education, Aamir Ashraf Khawaja, Senator Yaqoob Nasir, Senator Humayun Kurd, Senator Lashkari Raisani, Islamia University Bahawalpur Vice-Chancellor Dr Athar Mehboob attended the meeting.

Speaking on this occasion, the governor said that in 2013, during the tenure of PMLN, Baloch students studying in various universities of Punjab were given fully funded scholarships under the educational package. He added that the number of Baloch students enrolled in PhD and MPhil programmes had almost doubled at that time. However, recently the Baloch students were protesting due to the stoppage of payment of 50 percent of fees by the Punjab government. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice and directed the authorities concerned to resolve the issue immediately.

The governor said that students are our asset and they should be in educational institutions instead of protesting on the streets. The meeting decided that the problems of students’ fees and accommodation in hostels would be solved immediately. In this regard, the Federal Ministry of Education will provide funds for the payment of students' fees and allotments will be made to the students in the hostels without any discrimination according to the merit and policy.