All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) has taken exception to the proposal made by the Higher Education Council Expert Committee on introducing uniform fee structure for graduate and postgraduate courses offered by State universities.
In a press release issued here on Thursday, district secretary of AIDSO Shashikala Meti has termed the proposal by the committee to streamline the fee structure by fixing it starting at ₹11,500 to various degree and postgraduate courses in public universities in the state as unacceptable.
She said that the fee structure in public universities is already over 300% of the fees of government degree colleges. And, it has already resulted in admissions going down drastically. This apart, several degree colleges have now been converted into cluster universities. The fee structure in degree colleges will now begin at ₹10,000. This will mean that poor students will no longer be able to afford higher education, she has said in the release.
“What is even worse is that the universities have been given freedom to revise the fee by 10% with the permission of the Syndicate. AIDSO feels that if this is implemented, then, within two years, fees for various courses in public universities will surpass the fees of degree courses in private colleges,” she has said.
Public universities have already been increasing the fee structure on the pretext of shortage of funds resulting in huge difference between fee structure of degree colleges and universities. If the State government is really committed to introducing uniform fee structure, then it should charge the present fee structure of degree colleges in the universities also so that poor students are able to pursue higher education in the stream of their choice, she has said.
