ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has decided to deliberate on standardising tuition fees for private medical and dental colleges in its upcoming meeting.

The decision came in response to growing public concerns regarding the affordability and accessibility of medical and dental education in Pakistan.

Moreover, a parliamentary committee on health is also pushing the council to rationalise the fee structure.

According to a PMDC spokesperson, the council has taken a proactive approach to address these concerns by implementing a structured fee schedule toensure transparency andfairness in the education sector. `The council aims to prevent excessive tuition charges while maintaining high educa-tional standards in private institutions across the country. The PMDC is committed to ensuring that quality medical and dental education remains accessible to aspiring students. The regulation of fees is a crucial step in maintaining a balance between affordability and sustainability in private medical education,` he said.

In a statement issued by the PMDC, it was apprised that an emergency council meeting had been called to finalise a standardised fee policy. The meeting will include representatives from private medical and dental colleges, education experts, and government officials. The PMDC remains dedicated to promoting equitable access to medical education while upholding academic excellence, said the statement.

In January this year, the PMDC had restrained the private medical colleges from collecting fees till the decision of the committee formed by the prime minister to look into the matter of excessive fees being charged by the medical schools.

`Pursuant to the directions passed by the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on NHS meeting, all private medical and dental institutions are hereby directed not to collectfees for session 2024-25 from the students till final outcome of the committee constituted on the medical education by the prime minister of Pakistan and chaired by the deputy prime minister of Pakistan to review and revisit tuition fee of private medical and dental institutions of Pakistan,` the PMDC said in its letter.

It may be noted that the council in July last year requeste d the health ministry to seek the advice of the Law and Justice Department within 15 days to help the council decide because it wanted to resolve the issue before new admissions.

According to the letter, the PMDC in 2010 and 2012 fixed the tuition fee for private medical and dental colleges at Rs600,00 and Rs500,000 per annum, respectively. The council later allowed a 7pc increase and fixed it at Rs642,000.

It stated that the Supreme Court in March 2018 while deciding a suo motu case directed medical colleges in Pakistan to refund the amount in excess of Rs850,000 which was received from their students for that session. It stated that in 2018 the tuition fee for private colleges was fixe d at Rs850,000 initially and later at Rs950,000 based on a Supreme Court order dated September17, 2018. Subsequently, a 5pc annual increase in the tuition fee was allowed for the session 2020-21.

The letter added that the PMDC was re-constituted under the PMDC Act 2022. `All medical and dental colleges shall, at least three months prior to initiating the annual admissions process, publicly declare the fixed tuition and all ancillary fee structure on an annual basis for the entire programme of study in which the students are seeking enrolment and [of] which fee structure shall not be enhanced during the students` period of enrolment at the college,` it stated.

The letter said the fee structure obtained from private colleges for sessions 2022-23 and 2023-24 showed a lack of uniformity/standardisation in the tuition fees being charged by these colleges. The letter also mentioned numerous complaints from students regarding the exorbitant tuition fees being charged by the colleges. `Now, in the larger interest of medical/dental students seeking admissions in private colleges, the council intends to set a maximum limit for the tuition fee for all private colleges for uniformity and standardisation to be applied across the country,` it stated.