PU colleges threaten to stall admissions
BANGALORE: With the last date for submitting admission forms set as May 25, the Association of Pre-university Colleges (of both aided and unaided colleges) on Monday threatened to stall admissions into first PUC this year following the “arbitrary” fee structure prescribed by the Department of PU Education (DPUE).
At a press conference held here, President of the Association and Rashtriya Shikshana Samiti Trust M K Panduranga Setty expressed his dissent towards the government’s decision to set the fee structure without consulting the college managements.
“The officials should have convened a meeting with us before deciding on the fee structure. In the event that the circular of fee structure is not withdrawn, or if the fee is not revised, we will be forced to shut shop and stall admissions,” he said, adding that the Association would convene an emergency meeting on May 24.
According to Form 9, the DPUE has prescribed teaching fee of `840, library fees of `100, cultural activities fee of `56, class examination fee of `140 and so on. The total fee for I PUC in aided colleges should not go beyond `1,403 for general merit students, `512 for SC/ST students and `563 for OBC.
Science students have to pay an extra of `406 towards laboratory and practical exam fees.
“Around 50 per cent of the teaching fee has to go to the PU Board. We cannot sustain on what the government is prescribing. We end up spending more than the government cap,” said secretary of Sheshadripuram Education Trust Wooday P Krishna.
He added that it was wrong to paint all PU colleges with the same brush of profiteering. “We cannot have our own brochures and we are expected to have websites. How can rural students gain access to the internet? How can we introduce our colleges to parents without brochures?” he questioned.
The Association claimed that the government was not even providing aided colleges with the necessary grants-in-aid. “In NMKRV, the government has to provide us with 23 teachers. As it turns out, the management itself has hired teachers and paying their salaries,” said Panduranga Setty.