LAHORE: Introducing sweeping changes to the nursing admission policy, the Punjab government has not only abolished the Rs31,600 monthly stipend for the students, but also the free hostel facility, putting the entire burden of their education on their families, already facing financial challenges, in most of the case.

The new policy is being taken as a major blow to the efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to provide the aspiring young women, particularly those having underprivileged background, access to free nursing education.

The critics hold Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique and Health Secretary Azmat Mahmood responsible for the flawed policy as they had formulated the recommendations with regard to it and sent the same to the chief minister for her final approval.

The experts say that Ms Nawaz has been kept in dark about the policy’s financial fallout for, mostly, poor parents of aspiring nurses, who will have to bear the brunt of these controversial changes.

Policy change adds to the financial burden of their families

The experts also see it as a gradual and systematic shift by the health authorities towards privatising the nursing education, which, they apprehend, could have long-term drastic consequences for the public healthcare sector that was already facing an acute shortage of qualified and experienced nurses across the province.

They fear that the new policy may also leave an adverse impact on the patient care at the massively-burdened state-run hospitals of Punjab.

According to the newly-introduced policy, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore has been notified as admission authority for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN Generic – the four-year degree programme. The admissions will be offered on 3,100 seats (in the morning batch) across 45 public nursing colleges in Punjab.

Similarly, the Punjab government has added 1,400 new seats for the evening programmes in 15 public sector nursing colleges. Of these 1,400 seats, 100 have been allocated to each government nursing college. These included College of Nursing Mayo Hospital/King Edward Medical University, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital/Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Jinnah Hospital/Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore General Hospital/Ameerud Din Medical College, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, Nishtar Hospital, Multan, DHQ Hospital, Dera Ghazi Khan, etc.

Under the changes to the policy, free hostel facility in the government nursing colleges have been withdrawn, allowing these institutions to charge annual fees, on par with the private institutions.

“There shall be no stipend for the students enrolled for BSN Generic programme, in both the morning and evening batches,” reads the notified policy.

A senior official says that with these changes to the policy, nursing education has become very expensive in Punjab, apprehending it may aggravate the shortage of the trained health professionals in the cadre.

He says the female nursing students, mostly coming from rural or urban low- and middle-income families, will have to either pay the hefty hostel fees or opt for costly private lodging far away from their hometowns, risking their own safety.

He says that previously, through subsidised nursing education, even girls from financially-challenged families had an opportunity to seek a bright future in the nursing profession.

Withdrawing of financial support by the government has caused resentment among the students, as well as their parents.

On the other hand, the policy also elaborates the eligibility, scoring criteria and application process for admissions to nursing colleges.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2025