Members of Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges’ Managements’ Association (APPECMA) on Wednesday urged the State government to fix the fee structure for engineering courses for the block period of 2023-24 to 2025-26 based on the recommendations made by the Justice Sri Krishna Commission.
In a representation submitted to Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana, the APPECMA members pointed out that the commission had recommended a minimum fee of ₹79,600 and a maximum fee of ₹1,89,800 for an engineering (undergraduate) course, a minimum of ₹1,41,200 and a maximum of ₹3,04,000 for a post-graduate course, a minimum fee of ₹85,000 and a maximum fee of ₹1,95,000 for an MBA course and a minimum fee of ₹88,500 and a maximum of ₹1,94,000 for an MCA course.
They appealed to the Minister to direct the Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APHERMC) to fix the minimum fee not below ₹79,600 and the maximum fee at ₹1,89,800 to enable engineering colleges to run smoothly in these times of high inflation. They also brought to the Minister’s notice the issue of affiliation fee, seeking his direction to the universities to collect affiliation fee of ₹10,000 per college per year, instead of collecting it branch-wise or on the basis of number of students.
They also sought permission to start degree and PG courses in emerging areas like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain, robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cybersecurity, 3D printing and design and virtual reality.
They also sought the policy of a permanent affiliation for a minimum of 10 years for autonomous institutions and five years for other affiliated colleges, establishment of an ‘Academic Staff College’ in the State, and introduction of online teaching for M. Tech courses to improve enrolment of students and bridge the gap between the demand and supply of M. Tech candidates.
In a separate representation made to the Chairman of the APHERMC Justice V. Eswariah, they appealed to him to consider a hike in the minimum and maximum fee for courses.
They said that in the past, the AP Fee Fixation Regulatory Committee had finalised a minimum of ₹35,000 and a maximum of ₹1,08,000 for engineering colleges for the block period of 2016-17 to 2018-19. The present commission had altered it to a minimum of ₹35,000 and a maximum of ₹70,000 for the academic years 2019-20 to 2022-23. Citing inflation, they sought an increase in the fee structure.
