LAHORE, July 8: The Queen Mary College’s Board of Governors has approved 10 per cent increase in tuition fee and students will now be required to pay Rs6,600 instead of Rs6,000 per annum.

The board decided that the additional income generated through enhancement in fee would be utilized for expenditure incurred on the recruitment of new teachers and other staff, if required on an emergency basis.

The BoG meeting chaired by Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan also gave approval to the college budget for the year 2013-14 besides according retrospective approval to expenditures incurred during the fiscal year 2012-13.

The meeting was told that the Punjab government had allocated Rs145 million as grant in aid to the college from the Provincial Consolidated Fund, while the college administration had in kitty Rs80 million which was collected from students as college welfare fund in the garb of different expenditures including “Burqa” fund.

The minister directed the college administration to formulate rules for hiring the temporary staff and stressed that the principal must get prior approval of the BoG before recruiting additional staff in the college.

The minister also directed the higher education department to identify grey areas in the management of QMC and ensure that college funds were being utilized according to the treasury rules 1988.

He expressed his resolve to transform all autonomous educational institutions into centres of excellence and ordered holding of annual performance audit of QMC teachers.

He said a detailed third-party evaluation of all expenditures should also be done to ensure a transparent mechanism in this regard.

MNA Shaista Pervaiz Malik, former MPA Ghazala Saad Rafique, educationists Dr Khalid Hameed Sheikh, Parveen Awan and Dr Saeed Ahmad Nagra, civil society representatives Aamir Khalid Sheikh and Reema Ayyaz as well as officials of higher education and finance departments also attended the meeting.