Mubashir Naik
Amid Covid-19 followed by lockdown, Kashmir University has allegedly hiked the examination fee for the 2021-22 academic year, despite the absence of offline classes.
The decision has irked most of the students, who said that many students will be “left with no choice but to drop out after two years of hard work” because of this decision.
A student of the English department, on the condition of anonymity, said that “As everyone is struggling with the pandemic, unemployed people have lost their ways of earning but still Kashmir University leaves no chance of looting its students. I am a daughter of unemployed parents with a limited source of earnings. My parents are struggling to meet with the new fees structure issued by the university.”
“University administration has hiked the examination fee abruptly until last year it was only 1300 but this year they have extended it up to 2025, which is very hard to pay in time of crisis. We the lower class and rural people are suffering,” she added.
She also said, “What is more surprising is that although there is no offline exam still we are being asked to pay a hefty amount, which has shocked most of the students.”
Last year, keeping the financial condition of millions of students in mind, the government had asked colleges and universities not to insist on immediate payment of annual or semester fees.
“It is requested, that in view of the prevailing extraordinary difficult circumstances, universities and colleges may consider the matter regarding payment of annual/semester fee, tuition fee, examination fee, etc. sympathetically and if feasible, may consider offering alternative payment options to students till the situation returns to normal,” the UGC secretary had told colleges and universities.
Higher education regulator, University Grants Commission (UGC), had ordered that instead of being harsh on students at the time of a crisis, educational institutions should be empathetic and explore alternate payment models. The UGC move had come amid the covid-19 pandemic with millions of people facing financial hardship due to the preventive lockdown.
A group of students have urged Lt governor Manoj Sinha to intervene.