Admissions to undergraduate courses is proving to be a challenge for students and many of them have requested colleges to defer the collection of fees. Others have petitioned their colleges for infrastructure fees to be waived as they no longer have access to these facilities.
A student of a deemed-to-be university in the State said they require labs, access to libraries, and studios to learn. “Our university has said that online classes will commence shortly, but they made little investment to improve digital infrastructure. We want them to remove the infrastructure costs from our fees for this academic year,” she said.
Classes for the 2020–21 academic year are expected to commence on September 1, but students say they are struggling not just with the payment of fees but also the admission process. Applicants from rural areas have to travel to Bengaluru to complete admission formalities as many colleges have insisted that students need to come to campus in person.
K.R. Venugopal, Vice-Chancellor, Bangalore University, said colleges need to make internal arrangements to ensure that students were not at a disadvantage. “No student should suffer for their inability to pay fees. Colleges should allow them to pay in two or three instalments,” he said.
Many students’ organisations are worried that students, especially those from lower economic background, may drop out and not pursue higher education owing to financial constraints.
Sithara H.M., Bengaluru district president, All-India Democratic Students Organisation, said students were clueless about the admission process and there was a need for the government to intervene. “College managements should not collect fees till physical classes resume. The number of COVID-19 cases is expected to rise in September and it is not practical to have physical classes at this time,” she said.
Senior officials in the Higher Education Department, however, said the government cannot not prescribe fees for private colleges.
Another problem is the lack of rooms for students from other parts of the country as many university hostels are being used as Covid Care Centres. “Universities need to ensure that students are given accommodation in these hostels only after the premises have been sanitised,” Ms. Sithara added.
A few colleges such as National College have decided not to increase their fees for the coming academic year. C.B. Annapurnamma, principal of National College, Basavanagudi, said the college management had taken this decision in light of the pandemic and its impact on the financial resources of families. However, students applying for seats still have to personally submit hard copies of their admission forms even if they have completed the process online.
St. Joseph’s College has done away with parking fees, and is allowing students to pay tuition fees in three installments.
