Private college managements have bought more time from the government to give their nod to possible amendments to the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006. Two separate meetings with representatives of private and minority college managements on Friday yielded no concrete results with managements sticking to their guns about clarity on the fee structure.
The Act has been kept in abeyance since 2006. Though the government representatives expressed keenness on amending the Act before implementing it for the coming academic year, they also made it clear that they want college managements on board.
Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande said, “We told them that we want quality education, but at the same time the fee should be affordable as well. The college representatives said they had submitted details to the fee regulatory committee and will come back to the government after the committee’s decision. But we made it clear that we did not have so much time. They have assured us that they will get back after seven days.”
Fee hikeBoth private as well as minority institutions are said to have sought a substantial hike in fee for engineering courses citing vacant seats and high costs pertaining to salary, among other things. The Act, in its present form, will allow individual colleges to have separate fee structures as permitted by the fee fixation committee depending on infrastructure and location, among other parameters.
Interestingly, a major concern expressed by student unions about the government not having a share of seats in private colleges has met with an unlikely response. Both associations expressed no resistance in giving a share in seats to the government.
Medical collegesAs for medical colleges, the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Colleges Association (KRLMPCA) has sought another meeting on January 12 to “discuss issues”.
