All eyes on Monday will be on the crucial rank list of the Common Entrance Test (CET), the qualifying exam for admission to professional courses in the State. But even as engineering aspirants get busy preparing for admission rounds, slated to commence next week, the vital issue of engineering college fees remains unresolved.
The Government, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa on Friday, where a few private management representatives were present, decided that the fee for government quota seats in private colleges would be fixed at Rs. 35,000, Higher Education Minister V.S. Acharya told The Hindu.
Up from Rs. 30,000 a year in 2010, this will be the second consecutive year a sizeable hike of Rs. 5,000 has been implemented.
To insulate poor students from this, the Government offers to continue its two-year-old ‘poor and meritorious quota' scheme for students with family income under Rs. 2.5 lakh. These students would pay an annual fee of Rs. 30,000 (the Government would pay Rs. 5,000 per student to colleges), Dr. Acharya explained. Students with ranks under 25,000 could opt for this.
While this is being projected as a continuation of the ‘poor and meritorious' quota, for the past two years, students under this category were only paying Rs. 15,000. The Government and colleges concur on this for they believe the quota is redundant because the new All-India Council for Technical Education rules mandate that 5 per cent of students in each class be given a full fee waiver.
