Aitchison College board amends rules for fee waiver

LAHORE: Following the controversy surrounding Federal Minister Ahad Cheema’s son’s fee waiver, the Aitchison College board rejected Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman’s decision on fee waiver for students during leave or absence.

The college’s Board of Governors held a meeting presided over by the Punjab governor where it amended the rule and approved a 50% fee waiver for students during leave or absence.

However, the decision will only be applied to junior students while senior students will still be required to pay a full fee during leave or absence.

The 100% fee waiver will only be applicable to those students taking leave for Hifz-e-Quran.

The Aitchison College fee waiver controversy came into the spotlight last month when Principal Michael Thompson resigned from his post over alleged political interference by Federal Minister Ahad Cheema’s family.

Michael Thompson stepped down from the post accusing the family of Federal Minister Ahad Cheema to force him to waive fees for the holidays.

The Aitchison College Principal maintained that he denied the request for a fee waiver, but the Governor House Secretariat used its authority to issue a notification waiving the fee.

Following Principal Thompson’s resignation, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman said that an audit of the principal’s salary was initiated as he was receiving Rs4 million salary.

The governor went on to say that Michael Thomson used to take more than 100 days off annually, adding that he resorted to such tactics to avoid inquiries.

Later, Cheema declined to benefit from the fee waiver policy for his sons amid the resignation of Principal Thompson.

In a letter to Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman, Cheema refused to benefit from the policy, however, he said that Aitchison College Principal Michael Thompson had approached him personally regarding the matter.

The minister claimed that he was given several offers to sort out the matter regarding his sons’ fees, however, he declined to receive any “under-table deal.” Further, Cheema in his letter decried disrespect to his family in the whole fiasco.