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To raise or not to raise the fee
G. MAHADEVAN
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Sharp divide over the issue in higher education sector
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The great barrier:The scene at the fee counter of an educational institution
The fact that the National Conference on Development of Higher Education that was held recently in New Delhi took a more or less definite stand against fee hike in the nation’s universities came as a blow to academics and university administrators who say they were struggling, literally, to make both ends meet.
This conference organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) noted that the “cost recovery from students in the higher education sector is very high — in the range of 40 to 50 per cent — and that the scope of raising fee may be limited.”
This assessment and its subsequent endorsement by the IFUCTO has brought into sharp focus the divide in the higher education sector between those who argue that periodic fee hikes are inevitable and those who argue, with the delegates to the UGC conference that what is being charged now is already too high.
The latest initiative to hike fee – examination fee – has come from the University of Kerala. Though the Syndicate of the university met more than once and discussed this issue, it decided to effect the hikes only after discussions with various student organisations.
Qualified approval
While the Kerala Students Union carried out a shrill campaign against the proposed hike, the Students Federation of India (SFI) gave its qualified approval and said in essence that realistic fee hikes are okay. The SFI, however, also said it did not agree with the extent of the hike proposed by the university.
As per the University of Kerala estimates, it spent Rs.125.20 as the valuation cost per paper of its degree examinations. For a paper without a practical component, this came to Rs.110.05. The note submitted by the university administration to the Syndicate pointed out that the varsity “was the only institution which collected fee at the rate of Rs.11 per paper for BA/B.Sc./ B.Com. examinations for the last 29 years.”
The agenda note also requested the Syndicate to allow a 10 per cent hike in examination fee every three years to “compensate for the rise in expenditure.”
According to university officials who spoke to The Hindu-EducationPlus, the situation in other universities was slightly different. Calicut University had an examination fee range of Rs.15 to Rs.60 for basic degree courses, while M.G. and Kannur Universities charged between Rs.20 and Rs.30. “Even in these universities where the examination fee was higher, they were bearing significant amounts as loss in the conduct of examinations,” a university official said.
Some officials of M.G., Kannur and Calicut Universities who associated/had been associated with administering examinations said that given the current financial position of public universities, examinations could never be conducted on a “no-loss” basis.
In almost all the State universities, the imperative of conducting examinations and evaluating answer sheets translated to diversion of funds earmarked for other purposes.
Internal resource
There was a widespread feeling that unless the universities went for massive internal resource mobilisation or the government ups its annual support there might come an ironic point when even academic programmes suffered due to the huge spending on examinations.
Already, such financial sleights of hand were the order of the day particularly in the ‘mother university’ where the number of pensioners would soon outnumber the active employees.
There were those who argued strongly for a massive hike in budgetary allotment for education.
Member secretary of the State Higher Education Council and IFUCTO president Thomas Joseph argued that if 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, 10 per cent of the Central budget and 30 per cent of the State budget were set apart for education, the problem of funds would essentially be over.
“It is a question of priorities actually. There was a time—in the 1980s—when about 38 per cent of Kerala’s budget was for education. Now it is in the low twenties,” he pointed out.
Till such time as this magic figure of 30 per cent was reached – and few believe that this would happen soon – what would the universities do to bridge the ever-widening gap between income and expenditure? The State’s universities –which seemed to be suffering from a Pavlovian conditioning towards the annual grants from the government – were yet to think collectively or individually about a game plan to generate enough resources to render fee hikes unnecessary.
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Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
|
