A record decline in new admissions in first-year classes in government colleges has raised alarm across Punjab. For the academic session 2025-27, enrolments have dropped to historic lows, forcing the Higher Education Department to take urgent notice.
The Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) Colleges Punjab has issued a circular to divisional and district directors, along with principals, demanding written reports on the reasons behind these low admissions. In some districts, admissions are at zero, leaving colleges unable to even start first-year classes this year.
Data shows that large colleges could not complete enrolments as per allocated seats in the first round, and merit lists had to be lowered to fill the gap. Still, around 40 to 54 percent of colleges failed to meet even 80 percent of their admission targets. This situation is even more worse in sub-areas with enrolments ranging from zero to 30 per cent.
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Education experts say inflation is the main culprit. Former president of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association, Ilyas Qureshi, explained that rising costs of textbooks, uniforms, stationery, admission fees, and transport have made college education unaffordable. He estimated the total cost of first-year education per child at Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000, forcing many middle- and low-income families to pull back.
Lecturer Sidra Naqvi stressed that education in government colleges should be made free, including textbooks and notebooks. Without such measures, she warned, admission rate in colleges could worsen over the next three to five years, further putting the future of higher education in Punjab at risk.
