Sir: This is apropos of a letter, ‘Deceiving the students’ (Daily Times, September 23, 2014). The writer has rightly said that educational centres that ask students attending workshops to give a ‘mandatory fee’ for organising a ‘compulsory party’ are using a means of extortion. However, the extremely shocking fact is that this happens within the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Islamabad campus as well. I am a Masters level student at AIOU and have been attending the workshops for my degree. I too experienced what can only be called extortion by the administration. On the last occasion, Rs 450 were taken from each student to organise a party and present gifts to the faculty members. All students had to do it and I was no exception. This has become a common practice at AIOU and it should not be surprising that workshops held outside the main campus are suffering from the same issue. I do not request anyone to look into the matter but simply ask Pakistanis to ponder over the condition of educational institutions in Pakistan. IBRAR NADEEM BAJWA Islamabad