Close on the heels of the State government’s move to bring uniformity in fees of various UG and PG programmes, acting on a report from the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), student activists in Mysuru have urged the government not to hike but ease the fees for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in State-run universities.
“As many government universities have been charging higher fees which is burdening higher education of poor students, the council recommended bringing uniformity in the fee structure of the UG and PG courses of all the universities,” according to the Mysuru committee of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO).
The committee has recommended UG fees starting from ₹11,500 for various courses and the proposal has been placed before the government. “The UG fees in universities are already 300% higher than that of government degree colleges. After the 300 percent increase, enrolment in the universities has dropped,” Ms. Chandrakala of AIDSO claimed.
“Many government degree colleges have converted into cluster universities and the fee for degree courses in government colleges, which started from ₹3,500, now starts from ₹10,000.
In this background, the State government, in the interest of poor students, should give additional grants to the State universities and also fix the fee for courses in government degree colleges,” AIDSO demanded.
Ms. Chandrakala, in a press release here, said that the council has recommended that the universities increase the fee by 10 percent every year after obtaining approval from the respective Syndicate. If this is implemented, the degree fees of government universities will reach the level of private degree colleges within two years, she maintained.
Many universities are increasing the fees citing the reason for lack of funds. That is why there is a huge difference between government degree colleges’ UG fees and State-run universities. If the government intends to bring a uniform fee structure, then the government should implement the same fee structure in the government degree colleges and the state universities, the AIDSO said in the release.
In this regard, the AIDSO State Committee has demanded that the government take over the financial responsibility of the universities.
