The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Behind the fee hikes

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Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Behind the fee hikes

Priscilla Jebaraj

Educational institutions are also grappling with rising costs

With students and parents struggling to cope with the fee hike, it’s easy to blame educational institutions for the crippling cost of education. However, managements say they are faced with cost increases as well. “From gas cylinders for canteens to diesel for buses, the fuel hike has hit us hard,” says Kala Vijayakumar, president of the SSN Group of Institutions.

Infrastructure development has also been hit by the surge in cement and steel prices, she says.K.S. Babai, principal of Meenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College adds that even minor upgrades, such as buying equipment or an LCD projector or conducting workshops, have become more expensive. “We have to pay for catering and conveyances and prices have all gone up,” she says.

However, the biggest costs may come from human resources. “I expect our salary bill to go up by more than 20 per cent this year,” says Ms. Vijayakumar. She says the college is already bracing for the impact of new AICTE guidelines and Pay Commission expected to come into effect later this year. It’s the same story with school managements. If I don’t raise salaries, other schools will take my best teachers,” says Girija Seshadri, Principal of Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya. “But if I increase fees, parents will find it difficult.” Rama Narayanaswamy, a school teacher would like her salary to increase but says it would have a harsh impact on students whose fees would subsequently have to go up.

Institutions’ heads are in a dilemma over how much the fees can be raised. “We expect to absorb much of the costs. We only charge the break-even amount for self-financing courses,” says DG Vaishnav College principal S. Narasimhan. Institutions are now finding other ways to get revenue. At engineering colleges, consultancy and courses for industry not only brings in cash, but also provide exposure for students and staff. Other institutions use less straightforward methods. A number of engineering college managements justify high capitation fees by saying they cannot cope with the government-prescribed fees. (With inputs from Meera Srinivasan and Kavya Kumaresan)

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