“I have never told my daughter this, but one of the reasons I pushed her to do well in academics for the past few years is because I knew if she did not score well I would have to spend a lot on her undergraduate education at a private institute. A luxury, I do not have the savings for,” said Mahesh Kumar, who was waiting for the metro at Vishwavidyalaya station.
Feeling the pinch
With almost all seats in Delhi University colleges filled, parents of students who failed to meet the cut are now feeling the pinch as they will have to look at private colleges that charge between Rs.3 lakh to Rs.10 lakh for a three-year undergraduate course.
Hoping for some relief in the cut-offs at government or State-run universities, Mr. Kumar is one of the parents who have resigned to the fact that he will have to pay through the nose to educate this child.
Private universities
Archana, a student at a popular university in Noida, said: “It is not that private universities are bad. In fact, the infrastructure is better and the colleges work hard to get guest lecturers and on-campus placement so that they can build their brand. The problem is that many students are there just to spend three years in college and not necessarily to study a subject that they want to. So the level and depth of discussion into a subject is sometimes missing, especially in the case of arts courses.”
“When you are paying a fee that runs into a couple of lakhs, you want a return on your investment. An arts course is not like an MBA or a BTech course, which have campus placement at the end of the third year. I have been trying to get my son to take up a professional course like hotel management so that he will have a job at the end,” said Sanjiv Gupta.
Plan B
Some who can afford it, are going in for Plan B — applying to universities in the United Kingdom.
Malvika Sharma, a career counsellor who runs an outlet at South Extension, said she sees a stream of clients every year at the end of July-August who desperate to go abroad to study so that they do not lose a year.
“We hurriedly get them a TOEFL slot, try to speed up the process and help them with their statement of purpose. But it is not easy trying to meet a deadline so late in the admission process,” Ms. Sharma added.
Parents too are sceptical about sending their children out of the city to study as they fear the child will fall into the wrong company.
Some private institutes, however, make a quick buck in the process anyway. Students who take admission at such institutes as back up said they lose a part of the admission fee, which is non-refundable, if they withdraw their admission.
“I took admission at a private institute as back up, but made it through to one of the lesser-known colleges of Delhi University. I lost almost Rs.20,000 in the process,” lamented Adil Rai.
