The Hindu : National : Self-financing institutions asked to pay for participating in AIEEE test

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Self-financing institutions asked to pay for participating in AIEEE test

Anita Joshua

Participation fee thrust on them without warning at the eleventh hour, they say

NEW DELHI: Self-financing institutions using scores of the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) are miffed with the Central Counselling Board (CCB) of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry for asking them to cough up Rs.2 lakh for participating in the common test.

What has upset them most is that the participation fee was thrust upon them without warning and at the eleventh hour.

“Only last week, the CCB informed us of its decision to charge a participation fee this year. By then, we had already pledged 30 per cent of our seats to the all-India pool of engineering seats,” Vice-Chancellor of Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) in Thanjavur, R. Sethuraman, told The Hindu.

No option

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Mr. Sethuraman said the self-financing institutions had no option but to pay up this year or face the consequences of going back on a promise made in their prospectus. “The least that the CCB could have done was inform us well in advance as the decision to charge a fee was taken on March 19 this year.”

Limiting participants

Without citing any reason, the CCB – headquartered at the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (Allahabad) this year – sent out a letter requesting payment of the fee to participating self-financing institutions on May 14. All that the letter states is that “the CCB in its meeting held on March 19, 2008, has decided to charge participation fee of Rs.2 lakh from all the self-financed participating institutions”.

According to CCB Registrar Krishna Kant, the fee has been introduced to limit the number of participating institutions. “And, we are not alone in doing this. Management institutions which use the scores of the Combined Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management have to pay. This is an internationally accepted practice.”

“Not very high”

Within the Ministry, the view is that Rs.2 lakh is not very high for self-financing institutions to pay for using AIEEE scores.

“Even if only 30 per cent seats are being filled in a participating institution through AIEEE, association with this centralised examination lends credibility to the institution. The logistics and the costs involved in conducting such examinations are phenomenal.”

Gaining currency

That self-financing institutions should pay up for using scores of combined tests such as CAT, AIEEE, and the Joint Entrance Examination conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology is gaining currency within the Ministry is evident from the fact that a provision for participation fee has been built into the Combined Law Admission Test introduced this year.

“But, why penalise us for volunteering to admit students through AIEEE,” is the counter from the private institutions.

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