NEW DELHI: Condemning Delhi University’s decision to hike the fees for PhD in the English department, the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) on Thursday wrote to the Vice Chancellor (V-C), calling it ‘arbitrary and astronomical’.The teachers’ body pointed out that the department has suddenly increased the PhD fees to nearly Rs 24,000 from Rs 1,932 last year.
Abha Dev Habib, secretary, DTF, said, “This is shocking as such an astronomical hike in fee was not previously discussed in the Academic Council and the Executive Council. Most departments have increased the fees, which is also unfortunate, but the English department, in an unjustified and arbitrary manner, has hiked this more than tenfold from last year.”
“This has grave implications for students. This unjustifiable act has put an enormous financial burden and consequent mental strain on students. It will also deny access to quality education to a large section of students and discourage students from diverse backgrounds,” she said.
The teachers’ body wrote that the hike was not mentioned in the PhD notice and the students were informed at the last moment. As a result, they were forced to pay a high fee without any prior notice.
“We strongly protest the arbitrary hike and demand an immediate rollback,” DTF wrote.