HYDERABAD: The University of Sindh on Tuesday defended its decision to increase the fee against issuance of education certificates to Rs400 citing “over Rs700 million bank loan utilised by the previous management under unknown heads” as one of the major reasons.

He said the management was paying hefty amounts in utility bills pertaining to the boys and girls hostels housing over 3,000 boys and 1,500 girls, and claimed that other universities, including the University of Karachi, had withdrawn their hostel facilities to students.

A spokesman for the SU said that the institution was faced with severe financial constraints due to inflation in the country, currency devaluation and insufficient grants from the provincial government. The management is unable to disburse salaries to employees, according to the spokesman.

He argued that the increased certificate issuance fee was still lower than Rs500 being charged by other universities.

He said the fee enhancement was part of the austerity measures being taken by the incumbent vice chancellor to overcome budget deficit.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2020