The deplorable state of education in the country is known to one and all. However, there are some factors that do not get as much attention as they merit. A case in point is the admission process in some higher education institutions where one has to submit the admission fee and produce a voucher to that effect before the verification of relevant documents. This is clearly illogical. Institutions like the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in Islamabad and the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology (FUUAST) in Karachi follow such a pattern on their online portals, asking the applicants to pay the fee before having their documents scrutinised. Why cannot the universities verify the documents first and then ask for fee from the selected candidates? Even if the intention is to discourage non-serious candidates, a minimal fee would do the job.
Moreover, most such institutions have a tedious process of reclaiming the fee as it takes months and a number of useless visits to the department concerned in order to have the refund process completed. Such administrative loopholes on the part of universities add to the woes of students and their parents. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the universities concerned should look into the matter and make the admission process hassle-free.
ANWAR AHMAD
KARACHI
