The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has allowed 19 private medical and dental colleges to increase their annual tuition fee up to Rs2,147,483, according to a notification issued by the council.

 

The decision follows recommendations from the Committee on Medical Education formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The council said requests from 20 other institutions seeking a fee increase were deferred due to missing documentation and other procedural requirements.

 

Last year, the PMDC had set the maximum annual fee for private medical and dental colleges at Rs1.8 million, with a permitted annual increase of five per cent. For the current academic year, the tuition fee including ancillary charges had been capped at Rs1.89 million with the same five per cent annual increase.

 

The council later decided that future fee revisions would consider the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Colleges were also allowed to submit applications seeking additional increases if they provided justification for higher operational costs.

 

According to the notification, the institutions allowed to increase fees include CMH Medical College Kharian, Shahida Islam Medical and Dental College Lodhran, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College Lahore and Rawalpindi, Central Park Medical College Lahore, Niazi Medical and Dental College Sargodha, University Medical and Dental College Faisalabad and Al Aleem Medical College Lahore.

 

Other institutions granted permission include Multan Medical and Dental College, FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry Lahore, Rehman Medical and Dental College Peshawar, Suleman Roshan Medical College Tando Adam, HBS Medical and Dental College Islamabad, Abbottabad International Medical Institute, Independent Medical College Faisalabad, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, University College of Medicine and Dentistry Lahore and Azra Naheed Medical and Dental College Lahore.

 

The PMDC has said applications from 20 colleges were deferred after the institutions failed to submit required documents, including audit reports.

 

Meanwhile, 72 medical and dental colleges did not apply for any increase in fees.

 

Parents of medical students have called on the PMDC to clarify the notification, saying it does not explain whether the approved fee will be final or if colleges may add additional charges under other categories.