In a major policy shift, the committee on medical education reforms headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announced a fixed fee of private medical and dental colleges across the country.
It is worth noting that private medical colleges extract exorbitant fee from students ranging from Rs2.5-3.5 million, creating a burden on many students.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council had previously discussed the issue in its meetings in the last few years.
In its recent decision, the committee decided to cap the annual tuition fee for private medical and dental colleges at Rs1.8 million.
It also decided that the annual tuition of private institutions can only be increased based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
This fee will be applicable for five years for MBBS and four years for BDS. This fee structure will be announced publicly and its full implementation will be ensured to maintain transparency.
According to details, the minimum annual fee for private medical and dental colleges has been set at Rs1.8 million while the maximum limit has been set at Rs2.5 million.
However, those private colleges who wish to charge their students the maximum limit will have to submit a detailed financial justification to PMDC.
The detailed report for charging the maximum limit should include evidence of additional educational facilities and other services being offered as compared to other institutions.
According to Committee’s policy, unnecessary and unreasonable fee hike will not be accepted by the government. There will be a robust mechanism through which universities will have to prove why they want to charge Rs2.5 million a year.
This decision is being seen as a major step towards making medical education affordable for the general public, especially the lower and middle class.
The key figures participating in the meeting included Dr. Tariq Bajwa (Co-Chair), Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) Mustafa Kamal, Minister of State for NHSR&C Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharat, Federal Secretary for NHSR&C Nadeem Mehboob.
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