Parents of medical students in the State’s private medical colleges have been miffed by the stubborn stand of the respective managements over payment of fees for the next academic year. Most of the 20-odd medical colleges in the State have been insisting that the students pay the next year’s fees by July end.
Some colleges have even threatened to forbid students from attending the ongoing online classes and the university examinations if they do not pay the next year’s fee in full.
₹6 lakh-₹7.5 lakh
The colleges have ignored repeated pleas by parents either to extend the date of payment until the beginning of the next year’s classes or to allow them to pay in two or three instalments.
A section of parents have been finding it tough to shell out the fees ranging from ₹6 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh as COVID-19 has turned their lives upside down. Some of them have lost jobs and been forced to return from the Gulf. Those depending on bank loans find it hard to get the loans sanctioned as some colleges say there is “uncertainty over the fee structure.”
“I paid the first year’s fee with the help of my friends, and was planning to take a bank loan for the second year. But the bank insists on the fee structure, which the college is not ready to give,” said Abdul Jaleel Mampad, a parent of KMCT Medical College, Kozhikode.
Mr. Jaleel said his desperate attempts to sell a piece of land to raise the fees for his daughter failed because of the lockdown.
“What we need is a humanitarian consideration. And we don’t want it for all. Those affected by the current situation should be given some more time or allowed to pay in parts,” said Habeeb Rahman, a parent of MES Medical College, Perinthalmanna.
Managements’ view
But the college managements maintain that they were paying the teachers and other staff during the lockdown. They said they could not maintain the college and the hospital without fees on time. The wages for most staff were slashed in the lockdown. However, parents say they had already paid the fee for the year till this month end.
